New York’s Inaugural Muslim Film Festival Unveils Slate and Jury, Seeks to Redefine Representation

Launching October 11 at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan, a new festival is positioning itself as a direct response to the flattened, stereotypical portrayals of Muslims frequently found in Western media. The New York Muslim Film Festival (NYMFF), billed as the city’s first dedicated to Muslim filmmakers, aims to empower creators to tell their own stories.

According to artistic director Hassan Babar, these narratives should transcend the role of counter-narratives. “They should be the establishing paradigm,” Babar said.

The single-day program will screen 12 short films drawn from seven nations, spanning documentaries, dramas, comedies, animation, and experimental works. Female directors comprise the majority of the lineup.

“This festival exists because those stories deserve a stage in this city, not on the margins of someone else’s,” said Nawal Mubin, the festival’s co-founder and director.

The schedule begins with a reception for filmmakers and industry guests, followed by two blocks of six films, each approximately an hour long, leading into the awards ceremony and jury announcement.

The six-member jury includes Emmy Award winner Aasif Mandvi, a long-time “The Daily Show” correspondent and star of the Paramount+ series “Evil.” He is joined by Arab-American writer-director Darine Hotait, founder of Cinephilia Productions, whose work has aired on HBO, AMC, SundanceTV, and the BBC; Munir Atalla, head of production and acquisitions at Watermelon Pictures and a former Netflix creative executive; and producer Abubakar Khan, known for his work on “The Glassworker,” Pakistan’s submission for the 2024 Oscars, and the SXSW 2023 audience award winner “Mustache.”

Completing the panel are Lebanese-American filmmaker Sarah Mokh, a Sundance Feature Film Fellow who recently finished her debut feature “The Alchemy of Being Okay,” produced by Khan, and Egyptian-American actor Abubakr Ali. Ali has upcoming roles in Bassam Tariq’s “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” opposite Mahershala Ali, and Sean Durkin’s A24 film “Deep Cuts,” following a recent appearance in Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite.”

Watermelon+, a streaming platform, is sponsoring the Watermelon+ Discovery Award. The winner, whether a filmmaker or rights holder, grants the platform an exclusive license to stream the film for a set period. Other partners include the Islamic Scholarship Fund, New York post-production house Lost in Space, and Aneesa Talks, founded by filmmaker Aneesa Khan to support South Asian and Muslim creatives.

The lineup covers a broad spectrum of tones and subjects. Justin Mashouf’s documentary “$17.74” profiles a former gang member incarcerated since the 1980s whose solidarity gestures for Gaza from behind bars sparked a viral movement. In Karim Emara’s Qatar-U.S. dramedy “Baba Is Melting,” a son phones his father, waiting in a car before Friday prayer in Doha, to confront him about a secret second marriage.

Zaid Ahmed Hassan’s “Ghusl” focuses on a son tasked with learning Islamic burial rites by his dying father, while Basma Khalifa’s U.K. experimental short “Henna” tracks the life cycle of the henna plant alongside women from 16 African and SWANA nations. Sima Naseem’s Canada-Pakistan animation “My Friend in the Jingle Truck” blends stop-motion and 2D to depict a Karachi girl’s encounter with a magical bird.

Alex Aljouni’s “Bukra” follows a young Syrian refugee racing to claim a sweepstakes prize—a soccer ball—before she can play one final match with her best friend. Negine Jasmine Sekandari and Ayda Rojhantalab’s comedy “Haram Salami” sees a bold move reopen generational rifts among three Afghan women as they balance identity against custom.

Maram Taibah’s Saudi fantasy “Malika” examines a grandmother-granddaughter bond and the tension between wildness and expected obedience through a child’s magical-realist imagination. In Bilal Shams Khan’s Pakistani drama “Sabr O Shukar,” 10-year-old Akram discovers patience and gratitude while pursuing his dream of owning a bicycle.

Imran J. Khan’s “The Boy With Dinosaur Head” pits a troubled boy who believes he is a dinosaur against a teacher intent on grounding him, a brief encounter leaving a lasting impact on both. Ilhan Abdullahi and Sherry Rashidan’s Canadian comedy “Unqualified” follows Warsan, the only Muslim at her job, who must spiritually cleanse a haunted lunchroom using her faith and a series of misunderstandings before getting fired.

French drama “Ya Hanouni,” from Lyna Tadount and Sofian Chouaib, centers on two parents competing to hear their baby speak first, a lighthearted contest interrupted by life-altering events.

Babar, a Toronto-based actor and producer, co-heads programming alongside Aneesa Khan, who also manages communications. Mubin, a New York director-producer, co-founded the event with filmmaker and post-production specialist Giuseppe de Matteis. The core team members all work at Lost in Space.

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