U.S.-based Rasa Film Group is launching a film collective at the Sundance Film Festival.
The collective is actively exploring projects featuring strong female protagonists, narratives centered around social justice and stories that portray Muslim characters in positive and empowering roles. Rasa is in talks for future projects involving Muslim or Pakistani women talent such as Aizzah Fatima (“Americanish”), Mehreen Jabbar (“Farar”), Afia Nathaniel (“Dukhtar”), Mahnoor Euceph (“Eid Mubarak”) and Rehana Lew Mirza (“Wishtree”).
Rasa is the brainchild of four partners of South Asian origin. Asad Butt is the founder and CEO of Rifelion Media, a film and podcast studio elevating diverse voices. He is the executive producer of the forthcoming “Ramadan America” film anthology and the “King of the World” podcast series. Butt is also a startup advisor and investor, primarily working with pet care and education founders and accelerator programs.
Sujit Chawla was a producer on the groundbreaking independent film “American Desi,...
The collective is actively exploring projects featuring strong female protagonists, narratives centered around social justice and stories that portray Muslim characters in positive and empowering roles. Rasa is in talks for future projects involving Muslim or Pakistani women talent such as Aizzah Fatima (“Americanish”), Mehreen Jabbar (“Farar”), Afia Nathaniel (“Dukhtar”), Mahnoor Euceph (“Eid Mubarak”) and Rehana Lew Mirza (“Wishtree”).
Rasa is the brainchild of four partners of South Asian origin. Asad Butt is the founder and CEO of Rifelion Media, a film and podcast studio elevating diverse voices. He is the executive producer of the forthcoming “Ramadan America” film anthology and the “King of the World” podcast series. Butt is also a startup advisor and investor, primarily working with pet care and education founders and accelerator programs.
Sujit Chawla was a producer on the groundbreaking independent film “American Desi,...
- 1/18/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
“Americanish,” billed as the first romantic comedy about Muslims helmed by a Muslim-American woman, is coming very soon to a theater (potentially) near you.
TheWrap exclusively debuted the trailer for Inam Zawahry’s directorial effort in May 2021. The film will debut in theaters in California and Arizona on Oct. 6 prior to its VOD premiere on Nov. 14. Sony Pictures International picked up the distribution rights in January of this year after a successful festival run.
Inspired by Aizzah Fatima’s critically acclaimed one-woman show “Dirty Paki Lingerie,” the picture first played at the CAAMFest, which is the largest Asian American film festival in the nation. It won the Audience Award and has since won 25 festival awards prior to the acquisition.
Zawahry spoke to TheWrap previously, when the trailer debuted, and noted that “What’s really important about this film is that is shows that American Muslim women are not a monolith...
TheWrap exclusively debuted the trailer for Inam Zawahry’s directorial effort in May 2021. The film will debut in theaters in California and Arizona on Oct. 6 prior to its VOD premiere on Nov. 14. Sony Pictures International picked up the distribution rights in January of this year after a successful festival run.
Inspired by Aizzah Fatima’s critically acclaimed one-woman show “Dirty Paki Lingerie,” the picture first played at the CAAMFest, which is the largest Asian American film festival in the nation. It won the Audience Award and has since won 25 festival awards prior to the acquisition.
Zawahry spoke to TheWrap previously, when the trailer debuted, and noted that “What’s really important about this film is that is shows that American Muslim women are not a monolith...
- 9/27/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired global rights to the award-winning comedy Americanish, marking the feature directorial debut of Iman Zawahry. Specifics as to plans for the pic’s distribution have not yet been disclosed.
Written by Aizzah Fatima and Zawahry, Americanish follows sisters Sam (Aizzah Fatima) and Maryam Khan (Salena Qureshi), and their cousin Ameera (Shenaz Treasury), as they navigate love, careers and familial pressures in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Zawahry’s first feature won the Audience Award in its 2021 world premiere at San Francisco’s CAAMFest before going on to win a total of 25 awards at festivals around the world. Pic’s cast also includes Mo‘s Mo Amer, as well as Lillette Dubey (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Kapil Talwalkar (Charmed), Ajay Naidu (The Good Nurse), Godfrey (South Side), George Wendt (Christmas with the Campbells), David Rasche (Succession), Natasha Chandel (Seal Team), Purva Bedi (One Of Us Is Lying...
Written by Aizzah Fatima and Zawahry, Americanish follows sisters Sam (Aizzah Fatima) and Maryam Khan (Salena Qureshi), and their cousin Ameera (Shenaz Treasury), as they navigate love, careers and familial pressures in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Zawahry’s first feature won the Audience Award in its 2021 world premiere at San Francisco’s CAAMFest before going on to win a total of 25 awards at festivals around the world. Pic’s cast also includes Mo‘s Mo Amer, as well as Lillette Dubey (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Kapil Talwalkar (Charmed), Ajay Naidu (The Good Nurse), Godfrey (South Side), George Wendt (Christmas with the Campbells), David Rasche (Succession), Natasha Chandel (Seal Team), Purva Bedi (One Of Us Is Lying...
- 1/11/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan in ‘Blue Bloods’ season 13 episode 10
Danny and Eddie team up on a new case on CBS’s Blue Bloods season 13 episode 10, “Fake It ‘Til You Make It.” Directed by Robert Harmon from a script by Ian Biederman, episode 10 will air on Friday, January 13, 2023 at 10pm Et/Pt.
The cast is led by Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan, Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan, and Bridget Moynahan as Erin Reagan. Will Estes stars as Jamie Reagan, Len Cariou is Henry Reagan, Sami Gayle is Nicky Reagan-Boyle, Marisa Ramirez plays Det. Maria Baez, and Vanessa Ray is Officer Eddie Janko.
Season 13’s recurring guest stars include Abigail Hawk, Gregory Jbara, Robert Clohessy, Steven Schirripa, Andrew Terraciano, Ian Quinlan, Steven Maier, and James Hiroyuki Liao.
“Fake It ‘Til You Make It” Plot: Jamie and his new intel team officer infiltrate a high-tech car smuggling ring. Also, Frank faces off...
Danny and Eddie team up on a new case on CBS’s Blue Bloods season 13 episode 10, “Fake It ‘Til You Make It.” Directed by Robert Harmon from a script by Ian Biederman, episode 10 will air on Friday, January 13, 2023 at 10pm Et/Pt.
The cast is led by Tom Selleck as Frank Reagan, Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan, and Bridget Moynahan as Erin Reagan. Will Estes stars as Jamie Reagan, Len Cariou is Henry Reagan, Sami Gayle is Nicky Reagan-Boyle, Marisa Ramirez plays Det. Maria Baez, and Vanessa Ray is Officer Eddie Janko.
Season 13’s recurring guest stars include Abigail Hawk, Gregory Jbara, Robert Clohessy, Steven Schirripa, Andrew Terraciano, Ian Quinlan, Steven Maier, and James Hiroyuki Liao.
“Fake It ‘Til You Make It” Plot: Jamie and his new intel team officer infiltrate a high-tech car smuggling ring. Also, Frank faces off...
- 1/8/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
The Islamic Scholarship Fund will launch its inaugural Muslim Centered Writers’ Lab. The organization says the initiative is designed to give more opportunities to Muslim screenwriters to be at the center of their stories. It will take place from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13, 2022, and was made possible with support from Extracurricular and The Black List. The fund’s leadership says it is undertaking the lab because there is a correlation between how Muslims are represented on the screen and how they are perceived in public.
“Media representation is integral to helping reduce stereotypes and marginalization that so many communities face,” said Executive Director Somayeh Nikooei. “Specifically for American Muslim youth, it offers them the chance to see themselves and their community on the big screen in a nuanced and empowering light.”
The three-day lab will offer workshops that will instruct participants in the art of everything from writing a script through pitching it to studios.
“Media representation is integral to helping reduce stereotypes and marginalization that so many communities face,” said Executive Director Somayeh Nikooei. “Specifically for American Muslim youth, it offers them the chance to see themselves and their community on the big screen in a nuanced and empowering light.”
The three-day lab will offer workshops that will instruct participants in the art of everything from writing a script through pitching it to studios.
- 9/28/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Americanish
“Sam is going to be so successful,” Ameera (Shenaz Treasury) gushes as she lies between the beds of her two cousins, Samira and Maryam (Salena Qureshi). “And you’re going to be a great doctor,” she tells Maryam. “Everybody’s going to get what they want.” Including, hopefully, Ameera, newly arrived in the US on a six-month visa and hoping to get some help from her khala to find the answer to her own dreams, namely, marrying a Pakistani-American doctor.
The film’s title, with that little “ish” added to the end of America, neatly sums up the world of these young women caught between two cultures: one, overwhelmingly American, into which they are born, or into which they arrive; the second, the culture of their homeland, or their parents’ homeland, with ties to culture that sometimes are in direct conflict with the former. Any child of immigrants knows that there are always expectations,...
“Sam is going to be so successful,” Ameera (Shenaz Treasury) gushes as she lies between the beds of her two cousins, Samira and Maryam (Salena Qureshi). “And you’re going to be a great doctor,” she tells Maryam. “Everybody’s going to get what they want.” Including, hopefully, Ameera, newly arrived in the US on a six-month visa and hoping to get some help from her khala to find the answer to her own dreams, namely, marrying a Pakistani-American doctor.
The film’s title, with that little “ish” added to the end of America, neatly sums up the world of these young women caught between two cultures: one, overwhelmingly American, into which they are born, or into which they arrive; the second, the culture of their homeland, or their parents’ homeland, with ties to culture that sometimes are in direct conflict with the former. Any child of immigrants knows that there are always expectations,...
- 6/22/2022
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
Showcasing at the prestigious London Indian Film Festival is Americanish, the fabulous, many-layered film full of romance, comedy, family, drama, and finding out who you are in the world. Directed by Iman Zawahry, the film was written by Aizzah Fatima, who also stars in the movie. This brilliant slice of life film also boasts an incredible cast, including Lillete Dubey, Shenaz Treasury, Salena Quershi, Kapil Talwalkar, Ahya Naidu, Godfry, David Rasch, and George Wendt.
Welcome to America: Where dreams come true…ish. A relatable and endearing storyline, Americanish invites viewers into the home and lives of three women, career-driven sisters Maryam and Sam Khan, and their fish-out-of-water cousin Ameera, as they navigate the often turbulent waters of romance, culture, career, and family. Americanish delves into the complexity of trying to both honor and break from cultural traditions while balancing personal values and career goals in a society that does not always accommodate both.
Welcome to America: Where dreams come true…ish. A relatable and endearing storyline, Americanish invites viewers into the home and lives of three women, career-driven sisters Maryam and Sam Khan, and their fish-out-of-water cousin Ameera, as they navigate the often turbulent waters of romance, culture, career, and family. Americanish delves into the complexity of trying to both honor and break from cultural traditions while balancing personal values and career goals in a society that does not always accommodate both.
- 6/21/2022
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Iman Zawahry brings back the feel-good romcom to theaters with “Americanish,” a Pakistani American tale of four lovelorn women in New York City. Khala (Lillete Dubey) is a single mother eager to marry off her two daughters and niece, Sam (Aizzah Fatima), Maryam (Salena Qureshi), and Ameera (Shenaz Treasury). Only there’s one problem – or, well, two, or actually kind of three: finding love is a lot harder than it seems.
For the Asian American International Film Festival, we had the opportunity to talk to Zawahry over Zoom. Zawahry is animated and clearly excited; we’re lucky, really, to catch her on the day before her NYC in-person premiere. Over the next half-hour, we bounce around the representation and romance, talking through the what it means to be a Muslim American woman filmmaker today.
This interview has been edited and redacted for clarity.
I’ve read that you and Aizzah Fatima co-wrote “Americanish.
For the Asian American International Film Festival, we had the opportunity to talk to Zawahry over Zoom. Zawahry is animated and clearly excited; we’re lucky, really, to catch her on the day before her NYC in-person premiere. Over the next half-hour, we bounce around the representation and romance, talking through the what it means to be a Muslim American woman filmmaker today.
This interview has been edited and redacted for clarity.
I’ve read that you and Aizzah Fatima co-wrote “Americanish.
- 8/17/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Iman Zawahry presented her first feature at this year’s CAAMFest. Her intercultural comedy “Americanish” with a nearly all-female cast is fresh and funny. The director has won several awards for her shorts “Tough Crowd” (2008) and “Undercover” (2010). Zawahry is one of the first American-Muslim filmmakers who wears a hijabi. In “Americanish” she gives an insight into the muslim community in the US,she belongs to.
Sam and Maryam are sisters, both very ambitious. Sam works for a public relations company and is about to get a promotion as team leader. Maryam is studying to get into med school. Even though her mother is proud of them, she still holds on some traditional values. In Pakistan, family is the most important thing a woman has to achieve. Therefore, she wants her daughters to get married as soon as possible. Even though Maryam and Sam don’t reject their origins, they have...
Sam and Maryam are sisters, both very ambitious. Sam works for a public relations company and is about to get a promotion as team leader. Maryam is studying to get into med school. Even though her mother is proud of them, she still holds on some traditional values. In Pakistan, family is the most important thing a woman has to achieve. Therefore, she wants her daughters to get married as soon as possible. Even though Maryam and Sam don’t reject their origins, they have...
- 5/11/2021
- by Teresa Vena
- AsianMoviePulse
Two new Muslim Voices musicals created by the Brooklyn Children’s Theatre will premiere during the month of Ramadan. Together, they will tell stories of what it means to be American and celebrate the recognition of Eid as a public school holiday. These musicals allow non-Muslim and Muslim children alike to experience the culture and everyday experiences of their classmates and neighbors, to learn about the local New York City history, and develop confidence in their own voices and identities. The world premiere of two new musicals that bring Muslim and non-Muslim audiences together around a celebration of diversity and representation.
Brooklyn Children’s Theatre (Bct) is an after school musical theatre program serving over 1000 children in Brooklyn. Professional writers and composers create mini-musicals specifically for Bct’s students to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow as an artist and a person. We believe that theatre should be for Every child,...
Brooklyn Children’s Theatre (Bct) is an after school musical theatre program serving over 1000 children in Brooklyn. Professional writers and composers create mini-musicals specifically for Bct’s students to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow as an artist and a person. We believe that theatre should be for Every child,...
- 5/26/2017
- by BollySpice Editors
- Bollyspice
The Brooklyn Children’s Theatre (Bct) is an after school musical theatre program serving over 1000 children in Brooklyn, New York. Bct was commissioned by the Doris Duke Foundation of Islamic Art to create four original musicals with Muslim protagonists for children to perform in. Two of these musicals will be premiering on December 9, 2016.
Fast Friends is about children fasting for the first time during Ramadan. Fast Friends was written by Amy White Graves and Steve Saari, with contributions from Aizzah Fatima.
Sailimai And The Four Riddles was written by By Scott Evan Davis, Kareem Fahmy, Aizzah Fatima & Chris Heller & the Summer 2016 Muslim Voices Playwriting class. Sailimai And The Four Riddles is based on an Islamic Chinese folk tale: Sailimai must look to her Muslim values to solve a riddle and save her father.
Amy White Graves, Executive Director of Bct states “When we started this project in the summer of...
Fast Friends is about children fasting for the first time during Ramadan. Fast Friends was written by Amy White Graves and Steve Saari, with contributions from Aizzah Fatima.
Sailimai And The Four Riddles was written by By Scott Evan Davis, Kareem Fahmy, Aizzah Fatima & Chris Heller & the Summer 2016 Muslim Voices Playwriting class. Sailimai And The Four Riddles is based on an Islamic Chinese folk tale: Sailimai must look to her Muslim values to solve a riddle and save her father.
Amy White Graves, Executive Director of Bct states “When we started this project in the summer of...
- 12/1/2016
- by BollySpice Editors
- Bollyspice
Nagesh Kukunoor and Anurag Kashyap aren’t showing their films for the first time at the New York Indian Film Festival. But many young filmmakers are. Take a look at the opening night gala of the fourteenth edition of the festival as it kickstarts the weeklong celebration of the best of art house cinema from India. It opened on Monday, May 5 with the screening of Kashyap’s hard-hitting new film Ugly. Shelly Walia brings you the latest news and interviews from the red carpet at New York’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.
Festival director Aseem Chhabra smiles, but shies away from looking into the camera. Earlier in the day, he tweeted, “Are you guys ready for the… six-day movie tamasha?”
Aroon Shivdasani, executive director of Indo-American Arts Council, said the festival is an opportunity to screen films that tell a story about, say, real India. “Those films deserve to be watched.
Festival director Aseem Chhabra smiles, but shies away from looking into the camera. Earlier in the day, he tweeted, “Are you guys ready for the… six-day movie tamasha?”
Aroon Shivdasani, executive director of Indo-American Arts Council, said the festival is an opportunity to screen films that tell a story about, say, real India. “Those films deserve to be watched.
- 5/7/2014
- by Shelly Walia
- Bollyspice
Going beyond movies and music, Masala! Mehndi! Masti! (Spice! Henna! Fun!) will offer theatre, comedy, art, photography, cooking demos, serious talks on HIV and plenty of workshops at The Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen.s Quay West, Toronto from Aug 19-21.For theatre, M!M!M! will stage two plays along totally different themes. The first one, in honour of Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore.s 150th birthday, is Sacrifice (Visarjan), considered to be his finest drama. The other one is .Dirty Pakistani Lingerie., an adult play by Aizzah Fatima about 6 American Pakistani females struggling to find their place at the chaotic juncture of two extremely different cultures. .Komic Sutra., an hour of no-holds barred adult comedy by Nitin Mirani and Crystal Ferrier, will test the limits of your humour. Come prepared!For its literature component, 3 non-Indians, Mariellen Ward, Sylvia Fraser and Katherine Matthews will relate their love for India, its culture,...
- 8/8/2011
- Filmicafe
Here are the 2010 New York Reader's Choice results for categories dealing with classes and coaches. To look at all of the categories, be sure to visit the main page. Favorite Vocal/Singing Coach: Jackie Presti "Singing is a big coordination act, and I think a lot of people come in focusing on one aspect," says voice therapist and teacher Jackie Presti. "It's sort of like juggling and riding a bike and reciting Shakespeare at the same time."Clearly, Presti, who's also a singer, musician, and conductor, hits the right notes with her students. Her knowledge of both technical and artistic matters, not to mention her versatility and flexibility as a teacher, appealed to Valerie Ryan Miller, who has studied with her for three years. "After developing a strong belt, and a lot of vocal tension," Miller says, "I came to Jackie, who has expanded my range enormously—we are talking octaves!
- 6/24/2010
- backstage.com
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