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Muezzin's Prayer

Name: Muezzin's Prayer
Director: Alexandre Promio
Released: 1896
Duration: 1 min

Representation Score

2.7/10

Limited

1896

Director

Alexandre Promio

Runtime

1 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

As a foundational ethnographic artifact, this Lumière Brothers clip expands the early cinematic vocabulary beyond Western domesticity. Its primary value lies in documenting non-Western religious life and North African ethnic identity. However, the film lacks the complexity needed for a higher score. The footage is purely observational, offering no character's ability to drive the story or nuanced storytelling. Representation is limited by the era's social structures, especially concerning gender and identity. Ultimately, the work functions as a historical window into Islamic ritual, providing a necessary counter-perspective to the Eurocentric media landscape of the 1890s.

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Category Breakdown

Does Muezzin's Prayer have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

This film does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or explore non-cisgender identities. It focuses solely on a religious ritual without addressing sexual orientation or gender identity.

How does Muezzin's Prayer portray gender?

Limited

The film centers on a male figure performing a traditional religious role, presenting a singular, masculine presence in a position of authority. This reflects the social structures of the time.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Muezzin's Prayer?

Good

The work significantly features North African subjects, centering a Muslim practitioner in Algiers. This provides a rare glimpse of a non-Anglo-Saxon culture in the late 19th century.

How does Muezzin's Prayer represent religion and culture?

Good

The film depicts Islamic religious practices, offering a window into a non-Western spiritual tradition. It serves as an observational record of a non-Christian ritual.

Does Muezzin's Prayer include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no indication of the representation of physical or neurodivergent disabilities in this ethnographic clip.

Present on Screen

Provides significant historical representation of North African subjects and non-Western cultures.
Offers a rare early visual record of Islamic religious rituals and practices.
Challenges the contemporary Western-centric lens of the late 19th century through ethnographic observation.

Limited or Absent

Focuses almost exclusively on a singular masculine religious authority, lacking gender diversity.
Does not represent LGBTQ+ identities or non-cisgender narratives.
Observational nature prevents the development of complex character's ability to drive the story or nuanced storytelling.

Official Synopsis

A Muslim prostrates himself, immediately gets up and repeats this gesture several times.

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