ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

Queer Pakistani grad student Azra is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother. When her father suddenly dies on a trip home to Pakistan, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined; from her mother’s youth in Karachi to her own coming- of-age in rural Canada.

LONG SYNOPSIS

It’s 1999. 22-year-old queer Pakistani grad student Azra (Amrit Kaur) lives in Toronto with her girlfriend and has a strained relationship with her conservative mother Mariam (Nimra Bucha). Mariam and her husband Hassan (Hamza Haq) are traveling to Pakistan to visit family, and on the trip, Hassan has a sudden heart attack and dies.

Azra immediately flies to Karachi for the burial. She is impacted by the sounds and smells of a city that are so distant and yet so familiar, her land, her mother’s land. This flashes her back to her mother’s youth—1969 Karachi, in its ‘Golden Age.’ Here, a 22-year-old Young Mariam (also played by Kaur) is in conflict with her own mother, Amira, who insists Mariam must marry a man who will stay and live in Pakistan. Despite this, Mariam and Hassan’s Bollywood love story unfolds. When it’s revealed Hassan has accepted a job in Canada, Mariam’s mother is furious, but it’s too late to stop their plan to leave.

THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS is a dramedy spanning 30 years in the life of a Pakistani-Canadian family, exploring intergenerational connections between mothers and daughters, East and West, and home and away. Infused with humor, romance, music, and Bollywood fantasy, and inspired by personal experiences, family stories, and intertwined with Pakistani history and collective memory, the film shows the expansive journey of women seeking to define and decide their own paths, while simultaneously learning—and remembering—how to love.

Writer & Director Fawzia Mirza

Producers Jason Levangie, Marc Tetreault, Andria Wilson Mirza, Fawzia Mirza

Executive Producers Damon D’Oliveira, Anam Abbas, Kamil Chima, Carol Ann Noronha, Robina Riccitiello, Josh Peters, Alexander Stegmaier

Editor Simone Smith

Director of Photography Matt Irwin

Production Designer Michael Pierson

Costume Designers Faiz Rohani, Fizza Ejaz, Venk Modur

Composer Alysha Brilla

Cast Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Ayana Manji, Gul-e-Rana, Ali A. Kazmi, Meher Jaffri

FESTIVALS
2023: Toronto International (World Premiere); BFI London (International Premiere)
2024: SXSW (U.S. Premiere)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
North America, Latin America, and Select Southeast Asian Territories

EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download