How filmmaker Arshad Khan is fighting for empathy through sharing his story as a gay Muslim

Arshad Khan is very busy man. He has multiple film titles under his belt, film students to teach, a film festival to run and he's just completed his first documentary, Abu — a film about his experience as a gay man from Pakistan and his contentious relationship with his very devout Muslim father.

Arshad was born in Pakistan and immigrated to Canada in 1991. Living in Mississauga, he attended a predominantly white school where he realized for the first time that he was "brown". Says Arshad: "That was a shock and it was difficult to cope with. On top of that, realizing I was gay was very hard. My impulse was to not talk about it, to not acknowledge it." Arshad's experience was one I hadn't heard before — and I believe it's what motivates the filmmaker to tell stories that are underrepresented and nuanced like his own. In fact, his production company, Gray Matter Productions, describes itself as one that "invest[s] in works that represent the 'grey' in an often black or white mainstream media milieu."

If we do not tell our stories, then who's going to tell our stories? If we are not going to empower ourselves and stop this hiding and this shame, then no one else is going to come along and do it.- Arshad Khan, filmmaker

After studying film at Mel Hoppenheim School of cinema at Concordia University in Montreal, Arshad went on to create several short films and teach guerilla filmmaking at several schools in Pakistan including Karachi University. He is the director of the Mosaic International and South Asian Film Festival, which provides a platform for independent, diverse and conscientious South Asian cinema. Abu, which was shortlisted as a work-in-progress for Sundance, recently had its Canadian Premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, where Arshad now lives. It was received with a full house and a standing ovation. Arshad describes the story as one that was "sitting in my gut which I couldn't get rid of."

Many members of the LGTBQ community struggle with identity and family, and for Arshad, it was a multifaceted conflict. Facing anti-Muslim sentiment in a post 9/11 world put him on the defense for his Pakistani/Muslim community — but within that community, he felt rejected for being gay. "It feels like you're fighting the whole world," he says.

As of late, Islamophobia has been refueled. Add to that the prevalence of anti-gay and anti-trans politics around the world and I'm reminded that we must stand up, stand strong and find unity in the face of this hatred. Arshad believes that this can be done through storytelling. "Storytelling is very important because that's where people connect — that's where humanity connects." Through Arshad's story and all the stories in the Queer (Self) Portraits, we hope to do just that.

Abu will be appearing in film festivals in Ottawa, San Diego, Austin, London, San Francisco and Toronto in coming months. Get up to date details on screenings via Facebook.

Queer (Self) Portraits was born out of director Gabrielle Zilkha's participation in this year's 10X10 Photography Project. 10X10 is an annual art exhibit and book curated by James Fowler and produced each year to mark Pride Month. Each year, ten queer and trans photographers are selected to take portraits of ten queer and trans people whom they wish to celebrate for their contributions to the arts. Watch the full series here!