Director Fawzia Mirza on bringing queer Muslim stories to the screen

Fawzia Mirza is an American Asian director and creator of the LGBT short film The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night and Noor and Layla, both of which premiered at the British Film Institute (BFI’s) LGBT film festival, Flare. We talk to her about the films, her career so far, her production company Baby Daal Productions and what makes her tick.

What inspired The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night and what inspired Noor and Layla?

re: SYED FAMILY: Kausar Mohammed (lead actress in The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night) and I had worked on another short together that I wrote/directed (I KNOW HER) and we knew we had great collaborative energy. She wrote a short inspired by her and her sisters. And asked me to direct. 

re: NOOR & LAYLA: Love and queerness saved my life. I love love. My mission is to tell stories of love, hope and joy for queer, Muslim characters and thus, queer, Muslim people. We need and deserve to see ourselves at the center of the story. NOOR & LAYLA is inspired by my obsession with love, with moments I had with my wife during the first months of pandemic during the month of Ramadan and my desire to reclaim the rituals of my identities (the Azhan, henna, breaking fast, Jinn stories, etc.). This movie is an exploration of this question: How can we as queer people reclaim rituals from our faith, culture and family, and create our own traditions?

How long did it take you to make each one and were there any particularly difficult hurdles in making them?

re: SYED FAMILY: We had to push the shoot a month due to Covid but also due to my wife’s health and fight against cancer (mashallah, she’s on the other side and healthy!). This shoot was the first time most of our team had been back on a set. 

re: NOOR & LAYLA: My wife and I were in Toronto for the first year of the pandemic. We’d received a small grant from CBC to make a short. We had to wait until we had a window that was safe during covid, so we shot the film in September. We had to re-imagine how sets work: how we interact, eat, move around the space. We were so lucky to have an amazing location (donated by our associate producers Philip Kocev and Andrew Mainprize) that had an outdoor area so folks could be distant. The additional costs to ensure a safe set might have been prohibitive but we were fortunate that CBC was so supportive. 

What do you hope/aim for with regards to audience reaction?

re: SYED FAMILY:  We wanted to create a dynamic and blended family that people fell in love with, centering queer, Muslim characters. We wanted to show the joy, love and laughter and faces of our communities. This story is aspirational, revolutionary. We want to live in a world where to be Muslim, and to support the Muslim community is synonymous with valuing, loving and embracing the LGBTQ Muslim community.

re: NOOR & LAYLA: Queer Muslim love is beautiful. Muslims are not a monolith; we come in all forms and we practice in myriad ways. We are multitudes. We want to live in a world where to be Muslim, and to support the Muslim community is synonymous with valuing, loving and embracing the LGBTQ Muslim community.

As Noor and Layla is your first work with Baby Daal Productions (great name by the way!), what was the experience like?

It was incredible. Love that you love the name! My wife, Andria Wilson Mirza and I have always thought Baby Daal is my drag name. It felt fitting. Andria and I are not just romantic partners, but creative collaborators. Everything I do, create and bring into this world, is touched and blessed by our creative energy. 

Your films often explore the insection between being Muslim and LGBTQI+. Many Muslims often struggle to draw these two aspects of their identity together. There is a charity in the UK called Hidayah that helps individuals with this but what role do you think art and culture can play in this?

Everyone has an opinion about you, your life and who you are. That is an ancient truth. And those people will never stop having those opinions no matter what you do. So instead of trying to please them, trust yourself. The way I survived? Was to transcend the noise, the haters and the naysayers and create my own identity, community and safe space where I could be exactly who I am. Some in the mainstream Muslim community are scared of the queer Muslim community because we are unafraid to be who we are. 

What is your goal with Baby Daal Productions?

We dream of Baby Daal Productions creating, producing and developing work that centers Muslims, the LGBTQ community, people of color and folks whose voices need to be uplifted.. We hope to have an overall or a first look deal. We’re already working on other projects. To name a few: We are EP-ing the feature documentary COMING AROUND by Sandra Itainen centering a queer, Muslim, Palestinian, Egyptian woman dealing with her journey of coming out to her mother. We are producing my feature narrative ME, MY MOM & SHARMILA inspired by my one woman show, set in Canada and Karachi, funded by Telefilm Canada.

Who or what inspires you?

I’m inspired by my wife, by my friends, my LGBTQ Muslim community. I’m inspired by the power of comedy to save lives and to bring us together. I’m inspired by Chani Nicholas, Sonya Passi, Gloria Calderon Kellett, John Chu, Jenny Yang, Tanzila Ahmed, Chase Joynt, Rita Baghdadi, B. Yellowtail. I could keep going…

You have worked with Kausar on I Know Her too, what is the secret to your creative partnership?

We trust each other. And we both believe in magic. It was such a unique experience to be a queer, Muslim, Pakistani woman director working with another queer, Muslim, Pakistani woman actor/writer. THE SYED FAMILY XMAS EVE GAME NIGHT was so collaborative. Kausar asked me to direct but was really open to my input. So we workshopped the script for a few weeks, tightened, tweaked, punched up, filled out the world of these characters. 

What's next on the horizon for you and Baby Daal Productions?

I have a new short film AUNTIE that world premieres at ASPEN SHORTSFEST in April produced by Powderkeg and Paul Feig. I’m developing a fea feature projects and TV projects as well.

And finally, what can you tell us about the rumour that The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night is being developed for TV? 

We’re having some great conversations. STAY TUNED! Ask us in six months!