Meet the Director of Australia's First Muslim Rom-Com, Ali's Wedding
Will local, mainstream audiences be willing to embrace a story about a Muslim immigrant, in which there is hardly a white character in sight?
The story of a young man staring down the barrel of an arranged marriage even as he finds himself falling head over heels for someone else, Ali's Wedding has been billed as Australia's first Muslim rom-com. It's an intriguing tag that could prove either a hook or a hindrance when it comes to attracting a mainstream audience.
The good news? The film is fantastic. Director Jeffrey Walker and writer/star Osamah Sami (on whose life the story is closely based), have crafted a hilarious, heartwarming film about love, community and living up to the expectations of your family; a film that both embraces difference and celebrates the things that make us the same.
And yet with the film due to hit cinemas on August 31, the question still remains: will local audiences be willing to embrace a story about a Muslim immigrant, in which there is hardly a white character in sight?
"We're right on the edge of finding out," says Walker. "The way that I view it is: we've had thousands and thousands of people come and view the film, from small communities to big cities to festivals, and the feeling is the same. I think people go in, particularly if they're of a conservative background or whatever, already a little bit dubious. They go in, perhaps, with a preconceived notion. But the one comment we've had throughout all of the screenings is that by the end of the film there's a great deal of love and appreciation… and the sense is that once people have seen it, [they realise that] the things that we all have in common far outweigh the differences."
ON REPRESENTING A (SLIGHTLY) DIFFERENT WORLD TO YOUR OWN
"In the journey of this film, I came in quite late," says Walker. "But it's relative, because [it took] about seven years to bring all the pieces together. Osamah originally told Tony Ayres of Matchbox Pictures a story about his life, and that spurred on Tony to go and chat to [co-screenwriter] Andrew Knight."
"They spent a long time writing it, they spent a long time financing it, they spent a long time bringing it all together," says Walker. "I was fortunate in some regards in that I joined it at the point that it was fully financed."
Walker does admit to having a sense of hesitation in attaching himself to a project set in a world he knew so little about. "I loved the story, but there was an intimidating edge to it, because I also felt like I didn't want to do the community any injustice," he says. "But rereading it I almost just discounted all that, and went really to what I thought was the heart of the film, and the story, and the characters. From there I saw what the universal things and qualities were, and I felt like I could work with that."
WORKING WITH OSAMAH
According to Walker, one of the keys to the film's success was his collaborative relationship with Sami — both on screen and off.
"I think the very first time we met he was going to take me out to visit a couple of mosques in Melbourne, and basically begin our journey working out how we were going to approach this film," Walker recalls. "So I met him much more as a writer, and in his capacity as an associate producer, than I did as the leading actor of the film. We struck up a great friendship, and making him feel proud and happy of this film has been a great motivator for me throughout the entire journey."
"He made me feel extremely comfortable, and he was so open, and tolerated all my ridiculous and stupid questions," Walker continues. "Even when I think about asking them now, it's a bit like the ABC series You Can't Ask That. I just had to go there. But then I had a greater understanding of who he was, of who his family is, and of his world and his community. He gave me the confidence to be able to tell this story."
ARE AUSTRALIANS READY FOR THIS FILM?
As our interview with Walker comes to a close, our conversation returns to how audiences are likely to react to the film.
"My desperate hope for the film is that while you might initially be trying to play catch-up on what it is to be in a mosque, or what's unique about being in a Muslim household, eventually that all washes away as you see that, ultimately, the [things] that young people go through in their twenties in the Muslim community is a version of exactly what someone with a Western background goes through," he says.
As for any Australians who might be clinging to anti-immigrant views, Walker's message is simple. "We're a very young country. For anyone to stand with any sense of entitlement to Australia whose family history only goes back four or five generations is an odd standpoint from my point of view… the only people in Australia who deserve any entitlement are the Indigenous people, and the rest of us all just need to get along. We all travelled an immigrant's path to be here."
Ali's Wedding screens at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 10, and releases in cinemas on August 31.
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