Signature Move was well-received at its world premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. It is a beautiful film. As the director alluded to in her introduction, the film is a lesbian love story between a Pakistan- American Muslim immigration lawyer and Mexican-American bookstore owner in a peaceful diverse Chicago. Basically, it is about everything Donald Trump hates! More seriously, it is about a diverse multicultural melting pot where people of different cultures come together and learn from each other and grow and sometimes come to love each other. The film is well-acted and the script is quite subtle. Signature Move (2017) Zaynab is a thirty-something Pakistani, Muslim, lesbian in Chicago who takes care of her TV-obsessed mother. As Zaynab falls for Alma, a bold and very bright Mexican woman, she searches for her identity in life, love and wrestling. (film) Signature Move is a 2017 American indie comedy-drama film directed by Jennifer Reeder and co-written and produced by Fawzia Mirza about a Pakistani Muslim lesbian woman living in Chicago with her mother. Fawzia Mirza also introduced herself as a lesbian on Twitter before the film was announced. I particularly enjoyed the performances of Fawzia Mizra as Zaynab and Shabbana Azmi as her mother. The family relationship as Zaynab gradually figures out how to share her true self with her traditional mother is compelling. There are parts of the story that are a little too predictable, but basically it very enjoyable and a great anecdote to today's mean-spirited political climate. Jennifer Reeder's Signature Move plays like a cross-cultural cross between Netflix's GLOW and Rose Troche's Go Fish, a key film in the New Queer Cinema movement. Zaynab (co-writer Fawzia Mirza), a Chicago lawyer of Pakistani descent, lives with her widowed mother, Parveen (Bollywood star Shabana Azmi), the only person in her orbit who doesn't know she's gay. While Zaynab spends her days practicing immigration law, learning how to wrestle like a luchador, and zipping around on her moped, Parveen, a shut-in, spends hers watching Pakistani soap operas and praying that Zaynab will meet a nice Muslim man and settles down. Instead she meets Alma (Sari Sanchez), a pretty Jewish-Latina bookstore owner. Alma is also the daughter of a former Mexican wrestler (Charin Alvarez) to whom she tells everything (it's worth noting that there are no white men in this film, and you aren't likely to miss them). Though Alma swears she isn't looking for a relationship, the two start spending all of their time together. Zaynab even introduces her to Parveen, but her refusal to come out drives a wedge between the women. If the more experienced Azmi nearly steals the spotlight from the lead actresses, Reeder finds the perfect note on which to end. Media coverage of the feature film Signature Move. Filmmaker and educator Jennifer Reeder hones her signature moves. Signature Move pins down tough. Signature Move on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more.
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March 2018
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