"Shawarma Inn" Wins Inaugural Script & Pitch Competition at the Mosquers Film Festival
"The pitch competition was incredible," said Asif Quraishi, the Mosquers Film Festival production director. "It was great to see the combination of creativity and practicality, and the pitchers getting down to brass tacks about how they would execute their vision."
The team took home the $1,000 prize and now get the chance to have their short film produced by Rifelion.
An exorcism workplace comedy called "Unqualified AF" received the $500 second place prize.
"It Can't Be You" took home the $100 Audience Award price.
"The pitch competition was incredible," said Asif Quraishi, the Mosquers Film Festival production director. "It was great to see the combination of creativity and practicality, and the pitchers getting down to brass tacks about how they would execute their vision. It was like 'Dragons' Den' for creatives."
Judges and pitch competition presenters gather after the pitches.
Six teams pitched their short film ideas in front of a live audience of nearly 100 attendees at the Mosquers Film Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on Oct. 15.
The six finalists were selected from over 20 ideas submitted during an open call in September. Finalists were selected for their originality, core message, producibility and team experience.
The six finalists include:
"Hazmat" by Abbas Rattani, Shayan Mujawar and Imran Mujawar
Logline: A brilliant US Army doctor, grappling with PTSD, battles biohackers clad in a hazmat suit and hijab, but a botched biohazard mission forces her to choose between her life's work and stopping a chain of catastrophic events.
"It Can't Be You" by Nawal Mubin and Sumana Syed
Logline: After their arranged first date goes awry, Hannah and Adam find themselves face-to-face at work.
"Not You" by Nawal Salim and Nesa Huda
Logline: A South Asian Muslim woman is working on an arts exhibition about her culture where her white boss is also winning a DEI award.
"Fangs & Fasts: A Vampire Hunter's Ramadan" by Ashfaq Abbasi, Sobia Younus, Anna Abbasi and Aftab Abbasi
Logline: In a vampire-hunting office during Ramadan, a laid-back Muslim student's world turns upside down when he encounters a Muslim vampire, leading to a blend of humor, faith and fangs in the most unlikely of workplaces.
"Shawarma Inn" by Rami Abushhab, Yazid Suliman, Farrukh Nafees and Akram Shibly
Logline: Three brothers scrambling to restore the halal certification of their father's Shawarma restaurant are forced to confess that they've neglected an important family tradition.
"Unqualified AF" by Ilhan Abdullahi, Iman Abdullahi and Sherry Rashidan
Logline: In this workplace comedy, Warsan, the lone Muslim employee, becomes an accidental exorcist when tasked by her boss to perform a "spiritual purification" of the office after multiple complaints of paranormal activity in the lunchroom. With absolutely no clue about the supernatural and armed only with faith and funny misunderstandings, she embarks on a comical journey to evict mischievous spirits with one goal in mind: don’t get fired.
Judges for the final round included Rifelion CEO Asad Butt and filmmakers Iman Zawahry and Ayanna Shariff. Judges based prizes on originality, pitch, core message, producibility, dialogue, character development and team.
Anwar Molani is a doctor by day and actor by night. He plays Dad, Soniya and Yasmeen’s family patriarch, in the “Ramadan America” short “In The Meantime.”
