21st Annual Media Awards: Celebrating 21 Years of Recognizing Voices of Courage & Conscience

MPAC's 21st Annual Media Awards will be presented to the Academy Award winning documentary "Saving Face," Sundance Film Festival winner "Kinyarwanda" and TLC on Sunday, May 13 in Los Angeles.

Each year, in coordination with the MPAC Foundation, MPAC’s Media Awards Gala honors artists, actors, executives, authors and activists for serving as “voices of courage and conscience.”

Since 1991, MPAC has honored those who use art and media to create enriching and humanizing portrayals of Islam and Muslims, promote diversity and social justice issues, and inspire action.

The Honorees

“SAVING FACE”

This 2012 Academy Award winning documentary chronicles the lives of heroic Pakistani women as they attempt to reconstruct their faces and their lives after suffering from acid burn attacks. MPAC is proud to honor director Daniel Junge and the documentary’s protagonist, plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad, for sharing this inspiring story of resilience. Every year, more than 100 people in Pakistan (mostly women) are victims of acid attacks, while many cases go unreported. With little access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred while many reported assailants receive minimal punishment.

“KINYARWANDA”

Based on true events, this powerful Sundance Film Festival winner tells the story of Muslim Rwandans who opened their mosques to Christians, Hutus and Tutsis during the horrific Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. MPAC is proud to honor producer, writer and director Alrick Brown for his powerful portrayal of Rwandans cooperating to save lives.

TLC

Last fall, TLC debuted the first reality television show about American Muslims, aptly called “All-American Muslim,” which followed the lives of five Lebanese families in Dearborn, MI. MPAC is proud to honor TLC General Manager Amy Winters for standing by the show despite bigoted attacks from Islamophobic groups who sought to have the series canceled. 

Click here for tickets.