NOOR & LAYLA

2021 · 14m · Drama · Queer, Muslim, and Female-led

Logline: Noor and Layla are breaking up. Is it the end of the road for these two Muslim women… or is it the beginning?

Writer/Director: Fawzia Mirza
Producer: Andria Wilson Mirza and Shonna Foster
Executive Producers: Chani Nicholas, Sonya Passi, Sonia Hosko, and Shant Joshi
Featuring: Nicole Nwokolo, Sahar B. Agustin-Maleki, and Urvah Khan
Distribution: CBC Gem, Frameline Voices
Festivals: Outfest Fusion, Black Star, Bentonville, Inside Out, AGLIFF, Provincetown, NewFest
Awards: Audience Award-Best Short (Inside Out), Jury Award-Best Director (Image+Nation),
Jury Award-Best Narrative Short (Bend)

SYNOPSIS
A reverse chronology traces the love of Noor and Layla, two queer Muslim women. Their journey is marked in time by the five calls to prayer, underscoring five key moments in their intimate relationship. Noor & Layla is an exploration in reclaiming rituals, and redefining the role of ritual and religion in queer, contemporary life. Featuring Toronto rising star Nicole Nwokolo (Noor) and newcomer Sahar B. Agustin-Maleki (Layla), with the call to prayer (Azaan) performed by Pakistani-Canadian artist Urvah Khan, Noor & Layla is writer/director Fawzia Mirza's first Canadian-produced narrative short, produced with the support of the CBC, Fae Pictures, and her newly launched Baby Daal Productions banner.

DIRECTOR’S BIO
Fawzia Mirza is a queer, Muslim, South Asian, She and They writer/creator/director, one of '10 Filmmakers to Watch' (Independent Magazine), a White House ‘Champion of Change’ in Asian American Art & Storytelling, a 3Arts Acting Grant Recipient, a ‘Top 10 Creative’ (Indiewire), a Djerassi Program Writing Resident, a 2020 ‘Esteemed Artist’ Grantee (Chicago Dept. Cultural Affairs), a 2019 Islamic Scholarship Fund Film Winner, a 2020 ‘Yes And Laughter Lab’ winner. Her first feature, SIGNATURE MOVE (co-writer/producer/star), world premiered SXSW, screened 150+ film festivals internationally, won 14 awards (Outfest Grand Jury Prize, Best US Narrative). She wrote on CBS series THE RED LINE (EPs: Greg Berlanti & Ava Duvernay). She wrote/directed short films, I KNOW HER (Palm Springs Shortfest, BFI Flare, CBC Short Film FaceOff and more), and the upcoming JIYO, in association with Pakistan’s Olomopolo Media (in post). She directed the 2020 Outfest Episodic Audience Award winning gay soapy series, HIDDEN CANYONS. Her screenplay ME, MY MOM AND SHARMILA has been supported by SFFILM Society, Inside Out Finance Forum, Canada Council for the Arts, the 2020 TIFF Writer’s Studio and the 2020 TIFF Filmmakers Lab and she is a Share Her Journey Fellow. She is developing a script as writer/director with Paul Feig’s Powderkeg Fuse 2 incubator set to go into production in 2021.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Love and queerness saved my life. One of my missions is to tell stories of love and hope and joy for queer, Muslim characters and thus, queer, Muslim people. We need to see ourselves. We need to be at the center of the story.

The azhan (call to prayer) in the film is a way these two women connect, and creates an opening for them to get to know each other better. It is a storytelling device that marks time passing. But also, the azhan was a constant in my life. I spent a majority of my life running away from the azhan because I didn’t think I could or was allowed to answer the call. But we can all answer the call. This film is about reclaiming rituals. About reclaiming who is Muslim and how. The azhan is traditionally recited by a man. But here, we get to hear a woman’s voice thread this story together.

I love love. I love those moments where we fall in love. I love feeling that electricity charging into your fingertips. I love those moments where we feel that palpable connection to another person. I love seeing queer, Muslim love.

PRESS
THE ADVOCATE: Fawzia Mirza Talks Noor & Layla, a Film Celebrating Queer Muslim Love, April 2021
NBC ASIAN AMERICA: In Hollywood, Asian American stories are rare, but Asian American LGBTQ stories are even rarer, June 2021
DEADLINE: Frameline Voices Sets Official Selections For Its 2021-22 Program

DISTRIBUTION (CANADA)
CBC Gem
Contact: Micah Kernan
micah.kernan@cbc.ca

DISTRIBUTION (USA)
Frameline Voices
Paul Struthers
pstruthers@frameline.org

PUBLICITY
K2 Publicity
Contact: Kara MacLean
kara@k2publicity.com
310.254.4934

PRODUCTION COMPANY
Fae Pictures Inc.
Contact: Shant Joshi
shant@faepictures.com
647.250.7733

Baby Daal Productions
Contact: Andria Wilson Mirza
andria.r.wilson@gmail.com

We acknowledge that we work, live, and exist on the traditional territory of many Indigenous Nations.
The area known as Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands) has been caretaken by the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples. We pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.
The area known as Tkaronto has been caretaken by the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Huron-Wendat, and the Métis. It is now home to many Indigenous Peoples such as the current Treaty 13 holders, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is subject to the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement to share and care for the Great Lakes region.