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New Film on Global Muslim Public Opinion to Have Its World Premiere June 3rd

Film Based on Gallup Poll Dispels Stereotypes, Reveals Muslim Views on Gender, Terrorism and Democracy

(Washington D.C.)--Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think, a new documentary film from Unity Productions Foundation, explores the results of the Gallup Organization's first-of-its-kind opinion poll on the entire Muslim world. One day before President Obama's long-awaited Cairo speech, this hour-long documentary will premiere at Georgetown University Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 and be introduced in a keynote speech by Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on "Engaging with Muslim Communities Around the World." The film is designed to create discussion and dialogue with subsequent screenings planned at think tanks, on Capitol Hill, and other universities, before its national airing on PBS in Fall 2009.

The 55-minute documentary, executive produced by Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer (Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet; Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain; Prince Among Slaves) and produced and directed by Robert Gardner (Arab and Jew: Return to the Promised Land; Elie Wiesel: First Person Singular; Islam: Empire of Faith) examines questions on every American's mind: Why is there so much anti-Americanism in the Muslim world? Who are the extremists and how do Muslims feel about them? What do Muslims like and dislike about the West? What do Muslim women really want? Like Gallup's research, the film challenges some popular notions concerning the conflicts that exist between the U.S. and the Muslim World. It provides information and analysis intended to spur a public policy debate based on facts - not fear. This ground-breaking research is crucial to the new foreign policy formulations now being made in Washington and around the world.

Experts featured in the film include: Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies and a member of President Obama's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; John Esposito, University Professor at Georgetown University; and Kenneth Pollack, Director of Research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. "As the Obama Administration seeks engagement with the Muslim world, understanding Muslims is more critical than ever," said Executive Producer Alex Kronemer. "There have been thousands of hours of television over the last several years speculating about what Muslims really think, and countless books and articles. They all have derived their authority from theoretical arguments based on personal experience. That was all before the data from the global Gallup Muslim World Poll. Now we can explore this topic based on facts and draw from the expertly gathered, actual views of Muslims."

Unity Productions Foundation is a nonprofit production company whose mission is to develop balanced, fair and accurate journalistic material concerning the world's cultural and spiritual traditions in order to help increase understanding and tolerance. For more information, visit www.upf.tv.