The New York Muslim Film Festival will make its debut Oct. 11 at Manhattan’s SVA Theatre, presenting 12 short films from seven countries and a six-member jury drawn from acting, filmmaking, production and acquisitions.

Billed as New York City’s first festival for Muslim filmmakers, the one-day event was created to give those artists a platform to tell their own stories beyond the flattened and stereotypical portrayals often found in Western media.

Artistic director Hassan Babar said the films should not simply function as responses to existing depictions. “They should be the establishing paradigm,” he said.

“This festival exists because those stories deserve a stage in this city, not on the margins of someone else’s,” festival co-founder and director Nawal Mubin said.

The program spans documentary, drama, comedy, animation and experimental work, with women representing a majority of its directors. An opening reception for filmmakers and industry guests will be followed by two screening blocks, each containing six films and running for approximately an hour. Awards and a jury announcement will close the event.

A 12-Film Program Across Genres

Justin Mashouf’s documentary “$17.74” follows a former gang member who has been incarcerated since the 1980s. His gesture of support for Gaza from inside prison sparked a viral wave of solidarity.

Family tensions drive several selections. In Karim Emara’s Qatar-U.S. dramedy “Baba Is Melting,” a son calls his father, who is sitting in a car before Friday prayer in Doha, and confronts him about a concealed second marriage. Zaid Ahmed Hassan’s “Ghusl” follows a son asked by his dying father to learn Islamic burial rites.

Maram Taibah’s Saudi fantasy “Malika” uses a magical-realist world imagined by a child to explore a girl’s relationship with her grandmother, as well as the tension between wildness and the obedience expected of girls. Bilal Shams Khan’s Pakistani drama “Sabr O Shukar” centers on 10-year-old Akram, who learns patience and gratitude while pursuing his dream of owning a bicycle.

In the U.K. experimental film “Henna,” Basma Khalifa connects the life cycle of the henna plant with women from 16 African and SWANA countries. Sima Naseem’s Canada-Pakistan production “My Friend in the Jingle Truck” blends stop-motion and 2D animation in the story of a Karachi girl who encounters a magical bird.

Alex Aljouni’s “Bukra” follows a young Syrian refugee racing to collect a soccer ball won in a sweepstakes so she can play one final match with her best friend before he is gone for good. Meanwhile, Negine Jasmine Sekandari and Ayda Rojhantalab’s comedy “Haram Salami” examines three generations of Afghan women after a daring decision revives old divisions over custom, identity and personal desire.

Imran J. Khan’s “The Boy With Dinosaur Head” brings together a troubled boy who believes he is a dinosaur and a teacher determined to return him to reality, with their brief meeting leaving an impression on both. In Ilhan Abdullahi and Sherry Rashidan’s Canadian comedy “Unqualified,” Warsan, the only Muslim employee at her workplace, is assigned to spiritually cleanse an allegedly haunted lunchroom. She must rely on her faith while navigating a series of misunderstandings before she loses her job.

Completing the lineup is Lyna Tadount and Sofian Chouaib’s French drama “Ya Hanouni,” about two parents competing to make sure they become their baby’s first word before an event abruptly transforms their lives.

Festival Unveils Six-Person Jury

The jury includes Emmy winner Aasif Mandvi, a longtime correspondent on “The Daily Show” who also starred in the Paramount+ series “Evil.” He is joined by Arab-American writer-director Darine Hotait, the founder of Cinephilia Productions, whose short films have aired on HBO, AMC, SundanceTV and the United Kingdom’s national public-service broadcaster.

Also serving are Munir Atalla, Watermelon Pictures’ head of production and acquisitions and a former Netflix creative executive, and producer Abubakar Khan. Khan’s credits include “The Glassworker,” Pakistan’s entry for the 2024 Oscars, and “Mustache,” which won an audience award at SXSW in 2023.

Lebanese-American filmmaker and Sundance Feature Film Fellow Sarah Mokh joins the panel after recently completing her first feature, “The Alchemy of Being Okay,” which Khan is producing. Egyptian-American actor Abubakr Ali rounds out the jury. Ali recently appeared in Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” and has upcoming roles in Bassam Tariq’s “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” opposite Mahershala Ali, and Sean Durkin’s A24 film “Deep Cuts.”

Streamer Watermelon+ is supporting the Watermelon+ Discovery Award. The winning filmmaker or rights holder will grant the platform an exclusive, limited-period license to show the selected film. Additional festival partners include the Islamic Scholarship Fund, New York production and post-production company Lost in Space, and Aneesa Talks, an organization founded by filmmaker Aneesa Khan to support South Asian and Muslim creatives.

Babar, a Toronto-based actor and producer, co-leads programming with Aneesa Khan, who also heads communications. Mubin, a New York director-producer, created the festival with filmmaker and post-production specialist Giuseppe de Matteis. Mubin and de Matteis both work at Lost in Space.