On Current TV | March 04, 2008 | Comment on this video (8)

Archery of the East

Khaldoon
In East London, chaotic and alienated Muslim teenagers are being
transformed by learning archery.

Yassar is a 24 year old school teacher who sees the young people in
his community getting increasingly angry. Some are turning to radical
Islam. He sees how parents, schools and wider society fail to
understand. Yasser decided to set up an archery school, convinced by
the transformative powers of this ancient sport. As they practice, we
see how the young people concentrate, become calm and focused and
develop a sense of achievement.

This short film shows how young people can transform and create, if
only someone would listen to them.
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8 comments // Archery of the East // Video

  • archerymouted
    • 0
      archerymouted  

    • Dear brother. May God, the Merciful, bless you for your effort. We are riding in de same direction in the Deep South. Make dua for us. Yahia. sunna-equitaoearquearia.blogspot.com

    • 2 years ago
  • karney
    • 0
      karney  

    • Borat has made an entire subculture hard to listen to without smiling....sad.

      Apart from that, I liked this piece a lot. Very Karate Kid in real life.

    • 4 years ago
  • arshadfilms
    • 0
      arshadfilms  

    • Beautiful film and great music. It is refreshing and uplifting to watch youth engaged in reflection and spirituality. Unique subject matter, interesting subjects and quite concise.

    • 4 years ago
  • randomboy
    • 0
      randomboy  

    • This was so melodramatic I almost puked in my own mouth. Does this guy realize that these are just kids playing w a bow and arrow. Are these 10-13 yr old kids that angry? whatever happened to just letting them play on the streets rather than be under the tutelage of some strange looking dude who looks like he belongs in rehab and not around kids. They live in London not in that damn Gobi desert or the streets of Lahore!! And did he just throw in his supposed mogul / mongol heritage? Wow, gotta love the power of propaganda, even at this is level.

    • 4 years ago
  • haijin
    • 0
      haijin  

    • Can't really say more than has already been said.
      Very atmospheric because filming is concentrated beautifully on the teacher and picking out certain students.

      Very inspiring.

      Alan aka haijin

    • 4 years ago
  • ruffdox
  • digitalis
    • 0
      digitalis  

    • This is beautifully shot and well paced. The teacher displays a remarkable level of maturity and clearly takes immense pride in what he does. The editing worked very well, juxtaposing the students' outside, ramshackle life with the inner serenity needed to fire a true arrow. And finally, the music was well chosen and really suited the tone of the film...
      Great job

    • 4 years ago
  • Spiral9
    • 0
      Spiral9  

    • Beautifully done. Islamic prayer is a form of meditation, but to be practicing archery as a community--working together, in a peaceful way...just brings so much more perspective. Yassar is an amazing person!

    • 4 years ago
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