"AMERICANISH" // BENTONVILLE 2021 FILM FESTIVAL
Films like AMERICANISH aren't made that often. It's structured like a typical romantic comedy, with all the familiar beats, likable characters and hopeful ending to come. However, there isn't a Kate Hudson type in the lead here. The entire film centers around a Muslim Pakistani American family and showcases three main romances among them. That along sets it apart from any other rom-com you'll likely see this year. Khala Khan (Lillete Dubey) is the matriarch of the family. She's a Pakistani immigrant whose husband left her and now she's a single mother with two daughters - Sam (Aizzah Fatima) and Maryam (Salena Qureshi). Along with the two girls, their cousin Ameera (Shenaz Treasury) has come to America in search of love. She's confident that she'll meet an American doctor and be swept off her feet.
Her cousins each have very different views of their American lives. Maryam is a pre-Med student who's driven and focused. She also is the most traditional of them, having fully embraced her families culture and wears her hijab to most places. Her older sister Sam works at a firm where she handles a conservative Republican Senator's (George Wendt) social media page. He's a blustering racist fool and each day she has to swallow her real feelings and post positive things of the white America without immigrants that he longs to see again. She and Maryam both have absolutely no plans for marriage, as their career paths are what they focus on. However, they all share a common love and bond for each other. They love, support and respect each other without question.
Khala attempts to help Ameera in her quest to find a doctor but finds that it's a much harder job than she imagined. Maryann finds that she might be falling for a fellow soon-to-be doctor and Sam has to decide if and when she draws the line at work. There's also a charming deli worker (Godfrey) who becomes Ameera's friend but also holds a secret torch for her. All of these plots follow the basic tried and true formula of the American rom-com, but do so with a witty and charming script by Fatima (who co-wrote the movie along with acting in it) and Iman K. Zawahry (who also sharply directs). The acting is all around great, immediately elevating it above many other films of the same genre. Standouts include all three sisters (Qureshi, Treasury and Fatima) but it's Qureshi who shows the sharpest comedic timing and a charm that radiates through the screen. However, all three of them have amazing chemistry and are wonderful to watch. Godfrey also showcases charm to spare and the rest of the ensemble shine in their own various ways. By showcasing and revolving around a Muslim family with the setting of a typical American family comedy, the film is already jumping miles ahead of others who simply tell the same story over and over. AMERICANISH is a true breath of fresh air, one that everyone should see.
Chaired by Academy Award® winner Geena Davis, the Bentonville Film Festival is a one-of-a-kind annual event that champions inclusion in all forms of media. BFF is a year-long platform with the BFFoundation, culminating with a six-day festival, in collaboration with the founding sponsor, Walmart, and presenting sponsor, Coca-Cola. The Bentonville Film Festival is held annually in Bentonville, Arkansas and the surrounding region of Northwest Arkansas.
GRADE: A-
WRITTEN BY Aizzah Fatima, Iman K. Zawahry DIRECTED BY Iman K. Zawahry STARRING Shenaz Treasury, Salena Qureshi, Aizzah Fatima, Lillete Dubey, Godfrey, Kapil Talwalkar, Ajay Naidu, David Rasche, George Wendt. SELECTED AS PART OF THE 2021 BENTONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL. FOR MORE INFO: AMERICANISH