“Muslim American Stories Can be Messy, Complicated and Beautiful All at the Same Time”: Zeshawn Ali on his Hot Docs Debut Two Gods

Making its world premiere at this year’s virtual Hot Docs on May 28 and running through June 6, Two Gods (which had also been selected for the canceled Full Frame fest) follows one unlikely trio. Hanif is a devout Muslim, and an African-American man fully committed to his work as a casket maker and ritual body washer in his Newark, New Jersey community. He’s also unwaveringly dedicated to the two neighborhood kids he’s taken under his wing, 12-year-old Furquan and 17-year-old Naz, the former dealing with an unsafe home life, the latter with unsafe streets. But as the story unfolds — in sumptuous black and white images — several startling questions emerge. Is it the mentor saving his protégés or vice-versa? And what happens when, inevitably, a precarious three-legged stool comes apart?

To learn more about this auspicious debut Filmmaker turned to the doc’s first-time feature director Zeshawn Ali, who along with his brother Aman, the film’s producer, has crafted a poetic meditation on life, death and the struggle to survive in between.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.