“Islam’s Greatest Stories of Love” is a new documentary following Ariella Gayotto Hohl’s journey as she processes grief after her father’s death. The film explores how to heal after losing love. Gayotto Hohl travels the world and interviews members of the Muslim community about their cultural understanding of love and grief. 

The two-hour film airs on Detroit PBS Friday, Aug. 22 at 9 p.m.  

Gayotto Hohl, co-writer, co-producer and host of the documentary, and Alexander Kronemer, director, co-writer and co-producer, explore five stories from Islamic history. They examine the stories through Gayotto Hohl’s lens of personal experience and desire for understanding. 

One Detroit’s Chris Jordan spoke to Gayotto Hohl, an Islamic religion scholar, about making the film, her academic background and personal journey. They also talked about a story in the film with Michigan ties: Malcolm X’s bond with his sister, Ella Collins. Gayotto Hohl explains that relationship was formative in Malcolm X’s life and journey within the Islamic faith. Malcolm X lived in Michigan as a child. Later, he was deeply involved with the Nation of Islam in Detroit. Both of these periods are explored in the film.   

Gayotto Hohl said the documentary started filming a few months after her father died.  

“The movie is a lot about how do we make sense of love after losing it and after being broken by it?” she said. “So we go on this journey with me, which was very fresh.”