First Muslim romantic comedy hits theaters next week
Film tells story of American Muslim women who are not a monolith and are agencies of their lives
WASHINGTON – A Muslim romantic comedy, Americanish, will hit theaters on October 6.
It is the first film in the genre directed by a Muslim-American woman and inspired by Aizzah Fatima’s critically acclaimed one-woman show “Dirty Paki Lingerie.”
The film tells the story of American Muslim women who are not a monolith and are agencies of their lives.
It explores the good and bad aspects of tradition while highlighting the need for acceptance in society.
The film has won 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes — an American film and television review website.
The lead actress, co-writer and producer Fatima explained that she made the film for all the little girls like her who live in small American towns and never see themselves as heroes of their own story.
The film’s director, Inam Zawahry, said that Muslim women are still seen as docile, fearful or victims these days.
She said that the film portrays Muslim women as averagely normal and independent, who have love and a career.
“Muslim women to this day are considered to be docile, timid, or they’re victims, or they’re hyper-sexualized,” Zawahry said.
“They’re never seen as average normal, women that want to be independent, have love and a career. We are not seeing that. When we see things, communities, we’re able to relate to them. And as we’re relating, especially through comedy, they’re able to let go of anything they have, and they’re able to learn and take in what’s going on.”
Sabina Dana Plasse, critic of Film Threat, said the film explores the good and bad aspects of tradition while showing the need for acceptance in society.The film stars Mo Amer, David Rasche, George Wednt, Lillete Dubey, Aizzah Fatima, Salena Qureshi, Shenaz Treasury, Godfrey, Kapil Talwalkar and Ajay Naidu.
Zawahry co-wrote the script with Fatima, who also served as a producer alongside Roi Wol of Studio Autonomous, Paul Seetachitt and Maddie Shapiro. Along with support from the Islamic Scholarship Fund and The Concordia Forum.
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