“Delfts blauw meets hijab” is the title of a new Dutch documentary analyzing the experience of female Dutch converts to Islam and, at the same time, exploring the compatibility (or lack of) between so-called “Dutch identity” with “Muslim values.”  The documentary, created by Janina Pigaht, follows the experience of young Dutch women, Laura, Marion, Djamila, Anne-Marie and Elsa, who chose Islam in spite of an increasingly anti-Muslim sentiment in society.

As the director herself says, “Sometimes I think conversion is the new homosexuality.  You’re better off saying at the kitchen table that you are a lesbian rather than a Muslim. “Topics from hijab, to family to Dutch identity are addressed in the preview clips.  Laura, for example, in speaking about hijab, mentions that it is something she “always wanted to wear” and wondered what was stopping her from wearing it.  For her, it was first her parents, then her job, then “the fears [she carried in herself].”

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