The Queen of My Dreams
Amrit Kaur (Bela on “The Sex Lives of College Girls”) stars as a rebellious, queer, Pakistani Canadian woman circa 1999 and, in flashbacks, her mother in 1969 Karachi, in this tremendous Bollywood-tinged comedy about the chasm between generations, continents, and upbringing.
Director Fawzia Mirza scheduled to attend.
*Restricted to audiences in WA State.
“[A] fitting tribute to Bollywood and a fitting tribute to the expressionism of being queer.” —Drew Gregory, Autostraddle
Did the strained mother-daughter relationship in Everything Everywhere All at Once hit you hard? Has Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” made you cry? Do you enjoy the fantasy romance of Bollywood musicals like Aradhana? If you’ve answered YES to any of these questions, The Queen of my Dreams was made for you! Fawzia Mirza’s feature debut is based on a short film by the same name (which premiered at SIFF 2012) and follows Azra (Amrit Kaur, “The Sex Lives of College Girls”), a young woman grappling with her mother Mariam’s (Nimra Bucha, Polite Society) disapproval as she strives to live life on her own terms. Kaur is double-cast as young Mariam in flashbacks to 1969 Pakistan. The two stories parallel Mariam’s past struggle with her own mother’s expectations for marriage with Azra’s experiences as a queer woman in a Muslim family in 1999 Canada. Mirza’s multigenerational dramedy captures Pakistan’s beauty through colorful frames, exciting camera movements, and a love of cinema.
—Mackenzie Wardlow
- Director: Fawzia Mirza
- Principal Cast: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Ayana Manji, Gul-e-Rana
- Country: Canada
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 97 min.
- Producer: Jason Levangie, Marc Tetreault, Andria Wilson Mirza, Fawzia Mirza
- Screenplay: Fawzia Mirza
- Cinematographers: Matt Irwin
- Editors: Simone Smith
- Music: Alysha Brilla
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Debut Feature Film
- Language: English, Urdu
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: The Film Collaborative
- International Sales: LevelK