Fawzia Mirza
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Fawzia Mirza is a White House Champion of Change, an alum of the Tribeca Film Institute and Ryan Murphy's Half Initiative directing program, an Islamic Scholarship Fund Winner, and her feature script "Heirloom" was named to the 2022 Muslim List, published by The Black List. She co-wrote & starred in the feature film "Signature Move", which world premiered at SXSW, won 15 awards (US Grand Jury Prize Outfest) and starred Indian film legend Shabana Azmi as her mother. She wrote on CBS' "The Red Line" executive produced by Greg Berlanti & Ava DuVernay; her episode marked the first queer, Muslim romance on network TV. Her award-winning shorts ("The Queen of My Dreams", "Saya", "Spunkle", "The First Session", "Reclaiming Pakistan", "The Streets Are Ours") have screened all over the world. She wrote/directed "Noor & Layla" (BlackStar, Bentonville, Short of the Week, distributed by Frameline Voices, CBC Gem & Argo) "Brown Elephant" (co-wrote with Kausar Mohammed, commissioned by 20th Digital Studio with 2.3M views on Twitter) She directed the award-winning TikTok series "Hidden Canyons" and the rom-com "The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night" (world premiered at TIFF) which was named to Canada's Top 10 and one of Harper's Bazaar's "Best Christmas Movies of 2021." Her short "Auntie" executive produced by Paul Feig (Aspen Shortsfest, Hamptons Int'l) and was acquired by/is now streaming on The New Yorker. She executive produced the feature documentary "Coming Around" (world premiered Thessaloniki) and the upcoming documentary "Gifted" (also executive produced by Andria Wilson Mirza, Samantha Curley and Chase Joynt). She is in post on her directorial feature debut "The Queen of My Dreams," shot in Canada and Pakistan, a mother-daughter dramedy with the touchstone of the song "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani." The film was in TIFF's Writer Studio & Filmmaker Lab and stars Amrit Kaur ("Sex Lives of College Girls"), Nimra Bucha ("Ms. Marvel"), and Hamza Haq ("Transplant").