Parvez Sharma

Parvez Sharma is a New York-based Indian filmmaker, author, and journalist. He is a recipient of the 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship in the film/video category. He was amongst the 173 fellows selected from 3000 applicants in the 94th year of the fellowship, which originally started in 1925. In an official press release by the foundation, president Edward Hirsch said, "The winners of the 94th annual competition as "the best of the best...This diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists are appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise." Sharma is best known for his two films A Jihad for Love, A Sinner in Mecca, and his book published in 2017 called, "A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim's Hajj of Defiance". His film, A Jihad for Love was the world's first film documenting the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims. He received the 2009 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary amongst several other international awards for A Jihad for Love. In 2016, Sharma was named "a human rights defender" by Amnesty International. This was an award given at the Hague in the Netherlands to "worldwide human rights activists" which he shared with the Saudi human rights activist Ensaf Haidar.In 2009, Sharma was named as one of "50 Visionaries changing your world" in a list headed by the Dalai Lama. On 29 May 2013 at a DNC event at 583, Park Avenue in New York Sharma was honored as a "LGBT hero" by first-lady Michelle Obama at a DNC fundraiser in New York. The event was hosted by Bravo's Andy Cohen and NBA star Jason Collins.His second film, A Sinner in Mecca, premiered at the 2015 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and is a New York Times Critics' Pick amongst other press attention. A Jihad for Love was theatrically released in 33 cities. A Sinner in Mecca was only theatrically released in four. Over the years, worldwide press have profiled Parvez Sharma and reviewed his work.[1] For example, The New York Times collectively in two excerpts and two re