A Road to Mecca – The Journey of Muhammad Asad, also known as A Road to Mecca, is a 2008 documentary by Austrian filmmaker Georg Misch. The documentary traces the path of Muslim scholar and political theorist Muhammad Asad, which led to his conversion to Islam.

A Road to Mecca – The Journey of Muhammad Asad
Directed by	Georg Misch[1]
Screenplay by	Georg Misch, Miriam Ali de Unzaga
Based on	The Road to Mecca
Produced by	Ralph Wieser, Georg Misch
Edited by	Marek Kralovsky
Music by	Jim Howard
Production company	Mischief Films
Release date	2008
Running time	92 min
Country	Austria
Language	English

Synopsis

In the early 1920s Leopold Weiss, a Jew born in Lemberg, traveled to the Middle East. The desert fascinated him, and Islam became his new spiritual home. He left his Jewish roots behind, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Asad. He became one of the most important Muslims of the 20th century, first as an adviser at the royal court of Saudi Arabia, and later translating the Quran into English. Asad also played an important role in the creation of Pakistan and served as its envoy to the United Nations. The director follows his fading footsteps, leading from the Arabian desert to Ground Zero. He finds a man who was not looking for adventures but rather wanted to act as a mediator between East and West. “A Road To Mecca” takes this opportunity to deal with a heated debate which is currently becoming more and more important.[2]

Reception

The documentary received positive reviews from many magazines and newspapers e.g. Dox Magazine, Kleine Zeitung and Der Standard. Alissa Simon of Variety wrote:

"Informative... a well-judged combo of travelogue and biopic... a fine piece of anthropology, worthy of the dedication it copies from Asad's translation of the Koran: 'For people who think.'"[3]

Awards

The documentary was selected by the following film festivals, picking up a few awards:

• 2009 – Jerusalem Film Festival^{[citation needed]}
• 2009 – Dubai Film Festival^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 – FIDADOC Film Festival, Morocco (Jury Award)^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 – Diagonale Festival of Austrian Films (Best Cinematography Award)^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 – Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival^{[citation needed]}
• 2008 – Vancouver International Film Festival[3]

See also

• List of Islamic films

References

External links

• A Road to Mecca - The Journey of Muhammad Asad at IMDb
• Aljazeera Feature
• Icarus Films
• Mischief Films presskit