5 meaningful aspects of Jinn, according to director Nijla Mumin

Director Nijla Mumin sits down with Culturess to talk about adolescence, Muslims on-screen, and crafting the feature film Jinn.

At this year’s AFI Fest, 48 percent of the directorial slate is by women, and that’s telling in a year where representation is a hot button issue. This week I took in the feature film Jinn, the story of a young girl named Summer (played by newcomer Zoe Renee) and her convoluted relationship with religion in the wake of her mother’s own conversion to Islam. The film is a beautiful portrait of one teenage girl’s state of becoming, as well as a mother/daughter relationship drama. There are scenes that will make you laugh, that will make you cry, and make you relate to Summer on her journey of self-discovery. Several moments are brilliantly composed and all held together by the vulnerable and magnetic leading lady, Zoe Renee.

The entire affair is crafted by director Nijla Mumin. Jinn is Mumin’s second feature, coming off her 2012 film Jessica’s Mom (and the Science of Triangles) and it’s hoped it’ll be enough to propel Mumin into the stratosphere as a fresh new voice in cinema. Mumin took a few minutes to talk to Culturess about the film, sharing stories about filming and giving us information on putting together this intimate tale.

A deeply personal story

The East Bay Area filmmaker considers Jinn a deeply personal story with several facets to her own life growing up a young woman of color with connections to Islam (her father is Muslim and her mother converted). Mumin explains, growing up, she spent plenty of time in the local masjid (Arabic word for mosque) and sought to explore that mix of emotions in the film. As she lays out, the Muslim religion is often given a bad rap in popular culture and what she hopes to accomplish with Jinn is to have others tell their own stories about their relationship with Islam. The film is about becoming an individual, influenced by Mumin’s own conflicts with religion and her identity within it. Coming of age stories and elements of representation don’t have to specifically focus on gender or race, but can encapsulate religion too.

Avoiding a man at the center

Mumin knew she didn’t want to focus on a relationship between mother and daughter where a man was the impetus for change. She explains that even though men are present within the frame — Summer finds herself falling for a young Muslim boy — she never wanted them to be the ones influencing Summer’s decisions. Even Summer’s mother, Jade (played by Simone Missick) isn’t drawn into the masjid by a man, instead inspired to attend by a co-worker. Mumin says the emphasis on creating an inviting community for Jade is what should be attractive to the character, not a romantic relationship. This community of women also shines through when women stand up to men, as Tahir’s mom does when Summer is slut-shamed. Mumin elaborates that there are women who stand up to men within Islam and she sought to show that, to present women in a way that was strong within a religion commonly perceived as regressive to their sex.

Finding Zoe Renee

In casting Summer, Mumin was drawn in by Zoe Renne’s “inner light.” The director saw hundreds of girls, but none of them had the vulnerability and the tenacity to play the part. Part of what makes Summer so unique is her “flawed” nature, and though Summer is imperfect, the audience still roots for her. Her slow state of becoming is beautifully rendered, particularly at the film’s conclusion which, unfortunately, Mumin and I didn’t have time to talk about.

Breaking the virginity narrative

Halfway through Jinn, we watch Summer lose her virginity to Tahir, and unlike other narratives –usually focused on white female teenagers — the camera shows Summer fall on her bed, lost in the bliss she’s just experienced. When I bring up the scene with Mumin, she says it’s a scene that, even though she’s watched the movie countless times, she always notices. For her it was important to show a teenage girl of color find her first sexual experience to be a good one, though she understands that not everyone can boast something similar. But in a world where black girls are “judged” or “shamed” for their decision to engage in sex, Mumin wanted to celebrate it. She specifically references director Steven Soderbergh as an influence for the actual composition of the scene, citing The Knick and how Soderbergh’s camera captures characters lost in thought.

The musical score

Mumin says many have cited the film’s score as a highlight of the movie (yes, it’s that good!). For her, there was the actual score, created by Jesi Nelson, and then the music of “Summer’s world” which is incredibly freewheeling and vibrant. Both of these elements combine to create a universe that felt lived-in and rich.