Many can agree that the relationship between a mother and a daughter is unlike anything else, for better or worse.
That’s whyThe Queen of My Dreams directed by Fawzia Mirza bravely showcases the strained relationship between a mother and daughter born three decades apart who just can’t seem to see eye to eye on anything.
This coming-of-age tale is a beautiful nod to Indian cinema while also staying true to familiar roots right here at home, with the project being filmed in both Pakistan and Toronto.
The story is set in the 90s where Azra, played effortlessly by Amrit Kaur, a queer Muslim grad student who lives in Toronto, is left to deal with the sudden death of her beloved father.
Soon, she finds herself hopping on a plane to fly back to her ancestral home in Pakistan, where her strict mother expects her to play the role of the perfect grieving daughter.
To keep viewers on their toes Mirza brilliantly uses flashbacks to tell the story of Azra’s mother, Miriam, 30 years prior.
The preconceived notions the audience carried about Miriam quickly vanishes and is replaced by a dazzling young woman who once loved to dance and was obsessed with Bollywood movies.
It’s with personal recollections of the past that we are able to piece together where her life took a turn and when she drifted away from her child, someone who is more like her than she is willing to admit.
