Since 9/11 a new generation of Muslim Americans have come of age, and they are unapologetically Muslim and unapologetically American. ABER KAWAS’s father was deported when she was 16. Now, she’s a community organizer leading a sanctuary city initiative in New York. KHADEGA MOHAMMED is an 18 year-old, black, immigrant, hijab-wearing young woman in Michigan. Khadega feels that every aspect of her identity is politicized. She’s learning how to be an activist while overcoming society’s expectations of her. AMEENA QAZI is a lawyer who devoted her life to advocating for the Muslim community in California, but as a mother, she’s conflicted between caring for her children at a time when they feel vulnerable and leading the resistance.
About The Team
Nausheen Dadabhoy, is a Pakistani-American director and cinematographer from California. As a cinematographer Nausheen has lensed a number of narrative and documentary films: The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion (2019), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is currently streaming on Netflix; La Femme et Le TGV (2016), a live-action short Oscar nominee; the Emmy Award winning Armed with Faith (2018, additional cinematographer); Girl Unbound: War to Be Her (2016), which premiered at TIFF and aired on POV; Conscience Point (2019), which aired on Independent Lens; and J’adore Nawal a short for HBO Documentaries (2018), which premiered at Sundance.
The Ground Beneath Their Feet (2014) — her directorial debut following two Pakistani women after the 2005 earthquake — premiered at IDFA in the first appearance competition. An Act of Worship is her second feature. The film has received support from the Ford Foundation, IFP, Field of Vision, Hot Docs, Sundance, Tribeca/Camden Retreat, among others. Nausheen has workshopped the film as a Firelight Fellow (2018), Chicken & Egg Diversity Lab Fellow (2018), Chicken & Egg (Egg)celerator Lab Fellow (2019), newportFILM Documentary Cinematography Fellow (2019), and she is currently a Soros Equality Fellow (2020).
In addition to her work as a filmmaker Nausheen also works as an educator. She is currently a lecturer at the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Recently she’s been a cinematography mentor for Re-Present Media and Chicken & Egg Pictures. She received her MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute.
