Masjid al Haram, or the Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is the holiest site in the Muslim world. “In Arabic, Harām means sinful or forbidden, but with a slight inflection in pronunciation it also means sanctuary and sacred,” says filmmaker and creative director Kazim Rashid. “It is this contradictory symbiosis of good and evil, devotion for the divine and the exploitation of hope that my film attempts to explore.”
Exit to Al-Haram started life as a personal project that was meant to capture Rashid’s 89-year-old grandmother’s final trip to Mecca—her dying wish. Her passport failed to arrive in time so his family had to travel without her. “My grandmother’s preparations in the weeks before the trip was like a deep spiritual cleanse,” says Rashid. “Then in a matter of moments it was all for nothing. Years of devotion were seemingly smashed to pieces.”
Swiss broadcaster, RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse, present rare archive footage from the Haram al Sharif during the Hajji pilgrimage in 1970. A fascinating view of the sacred precinct in comparison with the modernisation, development and transformation that as taken place over the decades.
A film by the Khalili Collection depicting the arts and crafts associated with the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
https://www.khalilicollections.org/islamic-arts/
The hajj, one of the “five pillars” of Islam, is the pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, that all Muslims should make at least once in their lifetime if their health and financial means allow it, according to Islamic tradition. Inspired by the British Museum’s film Hajj Stories (htt...
