Left, Fawzia Mirza and right the cast of her short film, “The First Session” which screens at the Seattle South Asian Film Festival on October 22nd at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
Yes, the Seattle South Asian Film Festival is one of the 927 film festivals happening this month within city limits, joining the still going Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (through Sunday, October 18) and the soon to happen French Film Festival at SIFF later this month.
SSAF focuses on more than just your standard “Bollywood” type film by screening a wide variety of different types of films including dramas, comedies and films made by and for queer South Asian film makers and audiences. And, cementing Puget Sound as a one of the US’s largest centers for the South Asian community, SSAF is the largest South Asian film festival in the country with dozens of films screening over its 10 day running time at venues all over the area.
Below is some info on gay-interest programming at the 10th Seattle South Asian Film Festival (Oct 15-25) including the big Centerpiece Gala special event which features a live performance from Pakistani-Canadian-American actress/film maker Fawzia Mirza. The full lineup can be found at http://ssaff.tasveer.org/2015/
Tuesday, October 20: Walking the Walk | Our Story is a documentary double-feature from India and Sri Lanka that embraces the public (in Walking the Walk) and the very personal (in Our Story) sides of living as an LGBTQ person in South Asia. Northwest Film Forum
Thursday, October 22: Centerpiece Gala features The First Session, a short film by Pakistani-American comedian Fawzia Mirza, to be followed by her one-woman play, Me, My Mom and Sharmila. Seattle Asian Art Museum
More on “Me, My Mom and Sharmila”:
Told through the lens of two women’s shared love for glamorous Bollywood film star, Sharmila Tagore, using personal anecdotes, pop culture and even some South Asian history lessons, this is a profound and exciting new program about family and finding yourself.
A hilarious and heartbreaking coming-of-age story told by a first generation American fighting for acceptance as a Queer woman of color. At some point, we all realize we are not exactly the person our parents expected us to become. How do we find our own voice and embrace our personal identity in the face of societal and familial pressures? Told with humor and deep insight, dynamic writer-performer Fawzia Mirza shares a journey of self-discovery and strength that carries her all the way from childhood as a Pakistani Muslim in small-town Canada to living out as an actress in the heart of Chicago.
DIRECTOR’S BIO: FAWZIA MIRZA
Fawzia Mirza was named by Indiewire one of the ‘TOP 10 CREATIVES’ for creating online content in 2015. She was named by NPR Chicago as one of Chicago filmmaking’s ‘’RISING STARS’ in 2013. She is an actor, writer, producer and educator and works in theatre, television, comedy and film. Mirza’s work uses comedy to dispel the myth of the model minority and break down stereotypes across race, religion, gender and identity.
Friday, October 23: Magizhavan | Big Time: My Doodled Diary is a narrative double-feature from India that explores personal discovery (in Big Time: My Doodled Diary) and the difficult decisions surrounding coming out amidst the complex context of family, religion, and culture (in Magizhvan). SecondStory Hideaway, Redmond
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
