Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists.
 

Logline

A Muslim teen tries to help a man bumming cigarettes outside a gas station, but his troubles might prove beyond her capacity.

Synopsis

NORA is a young Muslim on the brink of adulthood, waiting for her college decisions and helping her single mom take care of her younger sister. On her way to school, she stops to fill gas and finds a middle-aged Muslim man, ALI, bumming cigarettes outside the gas station. She goes inside to buy him a pack of cigarettes. When she comes outside, she finds Ali in a compromising situation. Nora intervenes, and soon, she and Ali are zooming around town trying to come up with cash.

The film deals with questions of addiction, faith, and the cycles we find ourselves trapped in through the lens of two Muslim characters at different crossroads in their lives.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Sarah Mokh – Writer/Director
Sarah Mokh is a writer and filmmaker born in Lebanon, raised in Detroit, and currently based in NYC. She is a graduate of Harvard, where she studied English and Islamic Studies, and is currently a PhD candidate at NYU. Her screenplays have been supported and recognized by the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, Stowe Story Labs, The Script Lab, ScreenCraft, Film Independent, Sundance, and others. She is a 2021 WarnerDiscovery Early Career Fellow, a 2022 Film Independent Episodic Lab Fellow, a recipient of the inaugural MPAC Hollywood Bureau Writing Fellowship.

She is currently in pre-production on her directorial debut, Cigarettes,  a proof-of-concept for her feature film, Diary of a Muslim Cynic which depicts the spiritual coming-of-age of a Muslim girl amid questions of addiction and faith. Development of the film has been generously supported by the Sundance Institute and Film Independent.

Amanda Pinto – Producer
Amanda Pinto is a Midwest-raised, NYC-based filmmaker and photographer. While studying drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she developed an interest in working behind the camera. She has directed and produced multiple award-winning short films and web series that have been screened at festivals across the US, including Hollyshorts, Heartland Film Festival, and Portland Film Festival, with 3 short films currently in post-production. Amanda is co-owner of the Chelsea-based studio Sub/Urban Photography, specializing in portrait and commercial photography. Amanda’s passion for singular storytelling is what led her to Cigarettes, and she is honored to be working alongside Sarah and the rest of the team to help bring this script to life.

Elaine Tunnat – Producer
Elaine Tunnat is a commercial and narrative film producer based in Brooklyn, NY. 

She has produced across the US, and recently line produced the Chicago unit of Jason Park’s feature film Transplant (2023). Her latest short film as a producer, Trying, screened at the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival and 2022 El Paso Film Festival. Passionate and empathetic, her approach is to ensure her crew has all the tools and support needed to execute a creative vision. 

Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.