Details
Union:
Union or Non union
Area of media:
Short Film
Network:
Paid?:
No
Rates:
Unpaid as per agreement between CFC & ACTRA.
Deadline:
Sept 4, 2025
Shooting starts:
Sept 30, 2025 Will also be required for 4hrs of rehearsal
Shooting finishes:
Oct 1, 2025
Shooting locations:
GTA
Cities for response:
Toronto
Comments
STORY films are 10-15 minute shorts from directors, producers and editors in the Norman Jewison Film Program at the Canadian Film Centre. The films are professionally produced in the fall, edited before the New Year, and submitted to the international festival circuit. Recent STORY films have premiered at TIFF, VIFF, CIFF, Fantasia and many more! This is a chance for actors to connect with Canada’s most exciting emerging talent, both on and off screen, and to collaborate with writer/directors on a piece that supports a feature film in development.
Haaris Qadri is an emerging filmmaker based in Toronto and London and is currently a resident of the 2025 Canadian Film Centre Directors’ Lab.
His last short film majboor-e-mamool screened at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau, was featured on the Short of The Week and won Best Canadian Short Film presented by the National Film Board of Canada at the Canadian Academy recognized film festival, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. He has also screened at the 2023 TIFF Next Wave Film Festival. His latest film, Jo Mera Woh Tumhara enters the film festival circuit this year.
Haaris aims to make films that blend the authenticity of naturalism with the vividness of a painter’s realism. His works delve into the essence of everyday life, capturing the moments that evoke deep emotions and perhaps change. Haaris is drawn to diasporic narratives, exploring themes of identity, familial fragmentation, and the nuances of intergenerational dynamics.
Haaris Qadri is an emerging filmmaker based in Toronto and London and is currently a resident of the 2025 Canadian Film Centre Directors’ Lab.
His last short film majboor-e-mamool screened at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau, was featured on the Short of The Week and won Best Canadian Short Film presented by the National Film Board of Canada at the Canadian Academy recognized film festival, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. He has also screened at the 2023 TIFF Next Wave Film Festival. His latest film, Jo Mera Woh Tumhara enters the film festival circuit this year.
Haaris aims to make films that blend the authenticity of naturalism with the vividness of a painter’s realism. His works delve into the essence of everyday life, capturing the moments that evoke deep emotions and perhaps change. Haaris is drawn to diasporic narratives, exploring themes of identity, familial fragmentation, and the nuances of intergenerational dynamics.
Storyline
Zaina reaches out to her late father’s first wife, Fatima, inviting her to the 40th day of death anniversary — unexpectedly, Fatima arrives. Fatima’s feelings for her former husband, who was also her college best friend, resurface as she attends this event and meets his family, including his widowed wife, Safeena. Fatima contends with her grief and imagination of the “what if…..” while navigating the tension of Safeena who is convinced that Fatima was the woman her husband truly loved.
Fatima, a 50-year-old Syrian-Canadian woman, arrives at the death anniversary of her first husband, Abid, to pay respects and meet his family after being invited by his daughter, Zaina. Fatima is welcomed by the family, including Iqbal, her husband’s older brother, who hasn’t seen her in 30 years, as well as Safeena, Abid’s widowed wife that she has never met.
Safeena serves Fatima food in the kitchen, and the nature of Fatima and Abid’s marriage begins to unravel through the questions Zaina asks. The audience learns that it was a paper marriage suggested by Fatima 30 years ago to ensure Abid wouldn’t be deported after completing his student visa. Zaina recalls her father mentioning Fatima’s name closer to his death. With hesitation and reluctance, this eventually prompts Safeena to reveal that during those end moments, Abid asked for Fatima to come to him. The film ends with returning to the living room where the prayers are being held, and they pay their respects together.
Fatima, a 50-year-old Syrian-Canadian woman, arrives at the death anniversary of her first husband, Abid, to pay respects and meet his family after being invited by his daughter, Zaina. Fatima is welcomed by the family, including Iqbal, her husband’s older brother, who hasn’t seen her in 30 years, as well as Safeena, Abid’s widowed wife that she has never met.
Safeena serves Fatima food in the kitchen, and the nature of Fatima and Abid’s marriage begins to unravel through the questions Zaina asks. The audience learns that it was a paper marriage suggested by Fatima 30 years ago to ensure Abid wouldn’t be deported after completing his student visa. Zaina recalls her father mentioning Fatima’s name closer to his death. With hesitation and reluctance, this eventually prompts Safeena to reveal that during those end moments, Abid asked for Fatima to come to him. The film ends with returning to the living room where the prayers are being held, and they pay their respects together.
Roles
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | FATIMA | Female 50 - 59 Years old |
Description Female, 50s, MENA. Speaks some Arabic. She grew up in North America as a second-generation immigrant. Has a strong sense of self, a fulfilled life, and an even fuller family, but with the reintroduction of Abid into her life through the invitation of his death anniversary, she grapples with the question of “what if”, had she romantically pursued her best friend after college despite not aligning with her interests at that time in her life. She unravels her sense of feelings as well as the purpose of attending this event for grieving and remembrance while also understanding and considering the feelings of those that became Abid’s life after her. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | SAFEENA | Female 50 - 59 Years old |
Description Female, 50s, South Asian. Speaks Urdu), immigrated to North America with Abid. Had a harder time adjusting to life here with little community and family, living through a marriage that was often without much affection – but despite that, her marriage brought her much comfort and at times happiness. Struggles with the question of who Fatima really was for her late husband but accepts that despite knowing it was a paper marriage, this was the woman her husband would have truly loved. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | ZAINA | Female 27 - 32 Years old |
Description Female, Late 20s, South Asian. Speaks Urdu, has had to become the primary caretaker since her father’s passing. Balances between the care for her mother during this time of grieving but also is curious to know who her father was at that point in his life with Fatima. She contends with the distanced marriage her mother and father had while hearing a level of intimacy that her father shared with this other woman earlier in his life. She projects what she wants to do with her life through seeing her father’s maybe unfulfilled past and unhappy present. | ||
| Role type | Role | Gender & Age range |
| Lead | IQBAL | Male 60 - 75 Years old |
Description Male, 60+, South Asian. Speaks Urdu, Abid’s older brother. Came to the West before Abid did and helped him settle down. He knew Fatima during her time in college and thought fondly of her for helping his brother out. | ||