Just when I thought hijabis were already taking the stage by storm from Vogue and Covergirl to the House of Representatives, here comes the hijabi filmmaker, Iman Zawahry with her film, “Americanish.” Iman’s debut film, which releases this month explores the diversity of American communities while exploring what these communities have in common especially when it comes to love and relationships. Let’s talk to her: ![]() I. “Americanish” is a story about three Muslim women living in Jackson Heights, Queens as they tackle ambition, love and identity while balancing cultural and societal expectations. This film is loosely based of Aizzah Fatima’s play about six Pakistani Muslim women. Aizzah and I met after her play in 2012 and have been working on this film ever since. This is the first American Muslim rom com made by diverse American Muslim women about Muslim women which is crazy because we are in 2021! We wanted to show that Muslim women are not a monolith and agents of their own lives. The film is having its world premiere at CAAM fest, the largest Asian American film festival in America, in San Francisco on May 23rd at 5pm pst. The film is virtual, but just for California audiences. If you’re in California, please purchase tickets at the CAAM website as there are limited seats! We will release more screening dates as they come out so keep posted Instagram @imanzawahry.
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