Signature Move
$12 General Admission
$9 Student/Senior
$7 Member
About
** Co-presented with Tasveer! **
** Introduction on Friday by filmmaker and NWFF board president Sudeshna Sen! **
In wrestling, the right signature move can take years to develop. And thirty-something Zaynab Qadir — a closeted, Muslim lawyer who takes up lucha libre-style wrestling — quickly learns that she lacks the right technique and experience…on and off the mat. Working in the heart of Chicago’s Pakistani community, Zaynab wears the mask of an obedient daughter to her endearing but conservative mother, all the while hiding that she’s a lesbian. As the pressure of keeping her sexuality a secret starts to wear on her, Zaynab meets a free-spirited Chicana and the daughter of a former wrestler — a woman who is more experienced in love and used to living her life out loud and unashamed. As their relationship progresses and they are confronted with their differences, these polar opposites are challenged to find cultural middle ground before realizing that there’s no one right way to live your own truth.
“Shines a small, but much-needed light on non-white queer love.” – Sarah Marloff, Austin Chronicle
“In telling their story, Reeder and Mirza finally make good on the abruption of the North American New Queer Cinema by 9/11, returning to the celebratory multicultural, intergenerational, complex lesbian films of the last century’s end.” – Sophie Mayer, Sight and Sound