Signature Move
TFI Suppport
TFI Network 2016
Logline
A thirtysomething Pakistani woman from Chicago takes care of her TV-obsessed mother, while seeking strength in love and wrestling.
Jennifer Reeder
DIRECTOR
Reeder constructs personal films about relationships, trauma and coping. Her award-winning narratives are innovative and borrow from a range of forms including after school specials, amateur music videos and magical realism. These films have shown consistently around the world, including the Sundance Film Festival, The Berlin Film Festival, The London Film Festival, The Venice Biennale and The Whitney Biennial.
Fawzia Mirza
CO-SCREENWRITER, PRODUCER, ACTOR
Fawia Mirza, “Zaynab”/co-writer. Mirza was named a “Top 10 Creative” by Indiewire Magazine, one of Chicago’s “Rising Stars” of indie filmmaking by WBEZ, AfterEllen called her one of "8 Queer Muslim Women Defying Donald Trump" and she was a 2015 recipient of the 3Arts Award for Acting. She’s produced, starred in and written short films and web series that have screened at film festivals all over the world including Her Story, Easy Abby, The Throwaways, Jamie And Jessie Are Not Together. Her short film The Queen Of My Dreams is being used in college classrooms to educate on gender, sexuality and race. The First Session was named an NBC Universal Short Film Festival finalist in 2015 winning 'Best Actress' and the Chicago Tribune called her web series, Kam Kardashian about the long lost lesbian Kardashian sister as “quippy, lacerating stuff”. Mirza's short documentary, Reclaiming Pakistan, available online, is about the cleric of the Red Mosque featuring activists Muhammad Jibran Nasir and Sabeen Mahmud.
Brian Hieggelke
PRODUCER
Brian Hieggelke is a writer, publisher and film producer based in Chicago. Described as a “civic treasure” by Robert Feder, Chicago Tribune columnist, and “one of the most respected media minds in town” by Politico, Brian Hieggelke is the founder and president/CEO of Newcity, a Chicago-based company operating in print, digital and social media environments. He also serves as editor and co-publisher.
Eugene Sun Park
PRODUCER
Eugene Sun Park is a filmmaker and producer working in narrative and experimental forms. His films have screened at over 400 festivals, micro-cinemas, museums, galleries, and alternative screening venues around the world, including SXSW, BAMcinemafest, Outfest, Frameline, Chicago International, Cleveland International, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Athens International Film + Video Festival, Antimatter (Victoria, Canada), DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, and Jornadas de Reapropiación (Mexico City, Mexico). Eugene is also the founder and executive director of Full Spectrum Features, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to diversity in film and media. Current projects include Chicagoland Shorts, an annual touring program of short films that showcases the work of women, LGBTQ, and minority filmmakers; THE YEAR BETWEEN, a feature film produced with support from the Tribeca Film Institute; and RESISTANCE & RESETTLEMENT, a cinematic digital history project about Japanese American WWII incarceration funded by the National Park Service.