Biased portrayals of racialized communities in Hollywood films, often presented as benign fiction, reveal how cinematic representation serves as a tool of domination. This racial logic normalizes violence against marginalized men, women, and children, legitimizing oppressive methods of policing, disciplining, and even killing them. This documentary is an academic work and a visual supplement to the study Hollywood’s Bad Muslims: Misrepresentations and the Channeling of Racial Violence, published in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture.

The documentary is directed by Imed Ben Labidi, Associate Professor of Media, Film, and Cultural Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. His research, films, and teaching examine the representation of Arabs, Islam, and Muslims in Western media, cinema, and popular discourse.

Hollywood’s Bad Ethnicities won the Best Shorts Competition award at the IndieX L.A. Film Fest in September 2023.