Two months before it's official release, we present a special preview screening of Fawzia Mirza’s vibrant debut feature The Queen of My Dreams. The film opens our South Asian Heritage Month season and will be introduced by Dr Kulraj Phullar.

The Queen of My Dreams previously screened to critical acclaim at Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, BFI Flare and SXSW.

'A Bollywood-infused tribute to queer Muslim joy.''- British Vogue

In 1999, the sudden death of her father sends queer Muslim grad student Azra (Amrit Kaur) flying back to her ancestral home in Pakistan, where her stern mother Mariam (Nimra Bucha) demands she play the role of the perfect grieving daughter. Once there, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined; from her mother’s wild youth in 1960s Karachi to her own coming- of-age in rural Canada. Connected through a shared love of the Bollywood star Sharmila Tagore, Azra and Mariam come of age in two different eras.

Writer-director Fawzia Mirza’s energetic first feature explores the chasm between individual desires and cultural expectations. Fluidly and convincingly slipping between time periods, with sequences of vivid Technicolor reminiscent of the era’s Bollywood cinema.

English & Urdu with English Subtitles

Director’s Statement:

'The Queen of My Dreams is a dramedy spanning 30 years in the life of a Pakistani-Canadian family. It’s an exploration of the intergenerational connections between mothers and daughters, East and West, home and away, infused with humor, romance, music and Bollywood fantasy. Inspired by personal experiences, some of my mother’s stories, 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. And it explores the question I find myself asking in all my work, “How do we become who we are?”

With thanks to Peccadillo Pictures

Dr Kulraj Phullar is a London-based Film Studies teacher and researcher. His interests include classic Hollywood cinema, British colonial and diasporic cinemas, and popular Indian cinemas. He currently teaches at MetFilm School and the National Film and Television School.