“Americanish,” a romantic comedy about Muslims helmed by a Muslim-American woman, is coming very soon to a theater (potentially) near you.
TheWrap exclusively debuted the trailer for Iman Zawahry’s directorial effort in May 2021. The film will debut in theaters in California and Arizona on Oct. 6 prior to its VOD premiere on Nov. 14. Sony Pictures International Productions picked up the distribution rights in January of this year after a successful festival run.
Inspired by Aizzah Fatima’s critically acclaimed one-woman show “Dirty Paki Lingerie,” the picture first played at the CAAMFest, which is the largest Asian American film festival in the nation. It won the Audience Award and has since won 25 festival awards prior to the acquisition.
Zawahry spoke to TheWrap previously, when the trailer debuted, and noted that “What’s really important about this film is that is shows that American Muslim women are not a monolith; we’re agencies of our own lives. And you don’t see these stories at all.”
“Muslim women to this day are considered to be docile, timid, or they’re victims, or they’re hyper-sexualized,” Zawahry continued. “They’re never seen as average normal, women that want to be independent, have love and a career. We are not seeing that. When we see things, communities, we’re able to relate to them. And as we’re relating, especially through comedy, they’re able to let go of anything they have, and they’re able to learn and take in what’s going on.”
Joey Morana, in his review for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, stated that “Americanish” was “A celebration of love, life and culture, the film exudes joy and hope. What’s more American than that?”
Film Threat critic Sabina Dana Plasse gave it an 8/10. He declared that it “examines the good and bad aspects of tradition while exposing the need for acceptance in society.” With eight reviews thus far, the picture holds a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 7.2/10.
Lead actor, co-writer and producer Fatima stated, “I made this film for all the little girls like me living in small-town America who never see themselves being heroes of their own stories.”
Zawahry echoed that sentiment, stating “Words can’t describe the feeling of watching the audience’s reaction to the film. You make a film, and you don’t really understand its value until you hear, ‘Thank you for making this film and making me feel seen.’”
Mo Amer, David Rasche, George Wednt, Lillete Dubey, Aizzah Fatima, Salena Qureshi, Shenaz Treasury, Godfrey, Kapil Talwalkar and Ajay Naidu. Zawahry co-wrote the script with Fatima, who also served as a producer alongside Roi Wol of Studio Autonomous, Paul Seetachitt and Maddie Shapiro. Along with support from the MPAC Hollywood Bureau, the Islamic Scholarship Fund and The Concordia Forum.
Tickets are on sale and can be purchased here.
