Most Muslim children and young adults in America, regardless of their ethnic and economic backgrounds, grow up with media that fails to accurately reflect their lives. The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) sought to remedy that malady via Muslim Youth Voices Project (MYVP), an incubator for budding filmmakers. CAAM’s partners PBS and WorldChannel.org published 32 of these artists’ short films, which were developed during the multi-year program, today (December 10). 

Filmmaker and MYVP creative director Musa Syeed explains in the above preview video that 44 Muslim youth created these films through a series of free workshops in six cities where Muslim filmmakers taught them about script writing and video production.

The resulting shorts speak to the various cultural and social avenues that young Muslims, especially Black and Brown ones, take while building their identity. They cover issues as varied as Islamophobic bullying, the refugee crises and health practices—all through the perspectives of people who don’t typically see themselves on screen. 

See all of the films via PBS.org.