Parvez Sharma is a New York-based Indian filmmaker, author, and journalist. He is a recipient of the 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship in the film/video category. Sharma is best known for his two films A Jihad for Love, A Sinner in Mecca, and his book published in 2017 called, “A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim’s Hajj of Defiance”. His film, A Jihad for Love was the world’s first film documenting the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims. He received the 2009 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary amongst several other international awards for A Jihad for Love.