‘Chop Chop’ by afshan d’souza-lodhi Selected for The Muslim List
Talk show reunions, heartland justice, stateside backlash to the 1970s Iranian hostage crisis, and faith vs a child’s transgender identity are among the stories that make up the second annual Muslim List. This year’s list includes ‘Chop Chop’ by afshan d’souza-lodhi.
The collaboration between The Black List, the Muslim Public Affairs Council Hollywood Bureau and Pillars Fund has once again selected 10 writers out of the hundreds of submission received for this latest apportionment. The deadline for the second Muslim List was February 28.
First announced back in September 2020, the List aims to amplify the depth and range of voices and perspectives of Muslim scribes and storytellers on both the big and small screen. So, producers, agents and A-listers, see the full list of the 2022 coterie below.
“I said last year that it was an honor to partner with both MPAC and Pillars Fund and it’s doubly so this year,” stated Black List boss Franklin Leonard today. “These scripts and writers are incredibly exciting, and I look forward to seeing these and other stories on all manner of screens in the not too distant future.”
It should be noted that of last year’s Muslim List winners Saleem Gondal’s MFA thesis film Post Term won the 2022 National Board of Review Student Grant. Fellow 2021 alum Shireen Alihaji’s Blue Veil premiered at SFFILM and played LALIFF. Shireen was also picked for the 2021 Cannes List, accepted to Athena Film Festival Workshop, and is participating in the 2022 NALIP Media Market.
In that context alone, the 2022 Muslim List finalists are in pretty fine company.
“Congratulations to our 2022 winners!” says Arij Mikati, Managing Director of Culture Change, Pillars Fund. “Once again, the Muslim List shows our communities are brimming with an abundance of creative talent and provides Hollywood with a remarkable opportunity to invest directly in this next generation of Muslim creatives.”
“It’s so wonderful to be back for a second year,” notes MPAC Hollywood Bureau director Sue Obeidi, in congratulations of her own to the 2022 winners. “Each of the ten writers and their projects fills me with great hope for the future. We’re honored to be partnering again with the Black List and the Pillars Fund. Thank you to Franklin Leonard, Kate Hagen, the Black List team, Arij Mikati and the team at the Pillars Fund for their collaboration.”
CHOP CHOP by afshan d’souza-lodhi
CHOP CHOP is a dramedy that gives us an insight into the goings-on of an all-female halal butchers just outside the city. With Eid just around the corner and butcher shops nearby being closed down, the women won’t let anything, or anyone, get in the way.
