New York's First Muslim Film Festival to Screen 12 Shorts in One Day
New York City will host its first festival dedicated to Muslim filmmakers on Oct. 11, a one-day programme of 12 shorts from seven countries at Manhattan's SVA Theatre, according to Variety.
Twelve films. Seven countries. One day. Women direct the majority of the titles in the lineup, Variety reported on Oct. 3.
The event is led by co-founder and director Nawal Mubin, with Hassan Babar serving as artistic director, according to Variety. The festival uses the tagline "We are more than one story," according to its official site.
The day opens with a reception, followed by two blocks of six films that run about an hour each, before awards and the jury announcement, according to Variety. The programme at SVA Theatre is listed as starting at 1:30 p.m., according to the SVA Theatre.
The six-member jury brings together actors, producers and executives. It includes Aasif Mandvi, Darine Hotait, Munir Atalla, Abubakar Khan, Sarah Mokh and Abubakr Ali, according to Variety.
Hotait is the founder of Cinephilia Productions. Atalla is head of production and acquisitions at Watermelon Pictures and a former Netflix creative executive. Khan's producing credits include The Glassworker, Pakistan's entry for the 2024 Oscars, and Mustache, a SXSW 2023 audience award winner, while Mokh is a Sundance Feature Film Fellow who directed the feature The Alchemy of Being Okay, according to Variety.
One prize carries distribution with it. The Watermelon+ Discovery Award, backed by Watermelon+, gives the platform an exclusive licence for a limited period to show the winning film, according to Variety. Partners for the festival include the Islamic Scholarship Fund, Lost in Space and Aneesa Talks.
The lineup spans documentary, animation and experimental work. Justin Mashouf's documentary $17.74 follows a former gang member held in prison since the 1980s whose pro-Gaza gesture from inside sparked viral solidarity, according to Variety.
Sima Naseem's Canada-Pakistan animation My Friend in the Jingle Truck mixes stop-motion and 2D animation to tell of a Karachi girl who meets a magical bird. Basma Khalifa's British experimental film Henna traces the life cycle of the henna plant alongside women from 16 African and SWANA countries, a term covering Southwest Asia and North Africa, according to Variety.
What makes this stand out is the shape. A single-day festival keeps everything in one room, with filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences watching the same two blocks together.
