REPORT
She’s got the moves
O
n a beautiful sunny day in Chicago, a small crew
has set up outside a house in Little Village to film
a scene for “Signature Move,” an independent
film starring Pakistani Canadian actor, Fawzia Mirza.
They are a day away from the film’s wrap up and despite the near 14-hour day shifts during the last three
weeks, Mirza’s energy is boundless. In fact, it’s almost
contagiousthe crew cracks jokes with the producers as
they prepare for the next scene.Mirza plays Zainab, a
lawyer in Chicago of Pakistani origin who lives with her
mother Perveenplayed by Shabana Azmi and falls in
love with Alma, a Mexican American played by Sari Sanchez. The film’s title was inspired by a female Mexican
wrestler who practiced lucha libre
and her “signature
move” that Mirza
had seen. This is
the first feature film
for Mirza whose
previous
work
comprises stand
up comedy, writing and performing
in short films and,
more recently, a
role in the six-episode web series
“Her Story” which
was
nominated
for an Emmy in
outstanding short
form comedy or drama series. It would be grossly unfair to describe this movie as a “lesbian film” as some
may likely do. Undoubtedly the film portrays a romance
between two women but the relationship between Mirza
and her mother is of equal import.“I feel my best qualities come from my mother and I feel the mother-daughter relationship is one of the most relatable,” said Mirza.
“Whatever the relationship she has affected you.” That
the Meryl Streep of Asia, as Mirza called Azmi, plays that
role of the mother makes for quite a coup. While writing
the script with Lisa Danato, Mirza thought it would be a
dream to cast Shabana Azmi as the mother. “[It is about]
her acting ability, her social activism, her timing for both
comedy and drama is spot on,” said Mirza. “She’s an active participant in the art she creates. And of course her
identifying as a queer or lesbian in [Deepa Mehta’s film]
“Fire” 20 years ago is part of the lexicon.” Azmi’s decision to take on a role in a small budget independent film
shows her commitment to projects that she has a pas-
sion for, and the storytellers who want to tell their stories.Azmi told Nabeela Rasheed, one of the executive
producers of “Signature Move” as much and Mirza was
thrilled to hear it. Azmi picked up on this and how diverse
the set was, commenting to Rasheed about how many
women were on the set in a video posted on the film’s
Facebook page. “It’s comforting,” she said.“It’s always
interesting to be on set on the first day because you’re
still trying to work your way into the character,” Azmi
said. “The character leads you even if you’ve not decided
what you’re going to do and that’s the surprise element.”
With the film now in its editing stage, the producers hope
to have the film ready for release in time for festivals
and their goal is to
have its world premiere at one of the
big film festivals.
Rasheed feels the
time is right for this
story to be told.
“At a time when
Trump is attacking
both Mexicans and
Muslims, what better time to put out a
magnificent piece
of art? It showcases both of those
communities in a
beautiful light,” she
said. The director of “Signature
Move” Jennifer Reeder agreed, adding that she hoped
people would engage with the story, the romance, comedy and family drama. “I would love for people to connect with the cultural issues even if they’re not Mexican
American or not Pakistani American, to understand that
a lot of immigrant issues are all very similar,” said the
Chicago native who has been making films for 20 years.
“I want someone who is furthest from a Pakistani Muslim
lesbian to be enchanted with Zainab and root for her,
her romance for her relationship with her mother. I want
them to come in and at the end be like oh that was about
lesbians, Mexicans, Pakistanis, about Chicago.” Mirza
believes the film has universal appeal. “It’s a story about
parents, about having secrets from your parents, about
being scared to tell them those secrets, it’s a story about
being different from others, about trying something new,”
she said. “It’s a story of strength, the story of falling in
love with someone who is different then you are but then
also finding similarities across cultures and families.”
15 | BOOM