''Alia's Birth'' is a 2021 independent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

Sam Abbas Sam Abbas (Arabic language, Arabic: سام عباس; born 11 November 1993) is an Egyptian people, Egyptian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is noted for his artfully composed, poetic, and incident-like tableaus film style. Career ...

starring

Poorna Jagannathan Poorna Jagannathan is an American producer and actress of Indian descent. She is best known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries ''The Night Of'', as well for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen comedy seri ...

Nikohl Boosheri Nikohl Boosheri ( fa, نیکول بوشهری) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Adena El-Amin on Freeform's ''The Bold Type.'' Biography Boosheri was born in Pakistan to Iranian parents while her parents were fleeing I ...

Maya Kazan Maya Kazan (; born November 24, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Eleanor Gallinger on the television series'' The Knick'' (2014–2015). Personal life Kazan is the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Rob ...

, and Samuel H. Levine.

Cast

as Jaime *

as Tess *

as Jenna * Samuel H. Levine as Shadi * Edward Akrout as Tom

Production

In April 2019, it was announced

, were cast for ''Alia's Birth'', with

directing the film. Tatiana Bears, Nicole Townsend and Abbas were producing, with Sig De Miguel and Stephen Vincent co-producing. Shortly after the rest of the cast was released. Abbas released exclusively via ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' a contest for female-filmmakers to submit their short works to be included in ''Alia's Birth''. The response was tremendous, with hundreds of submissions He quoted, "While I can't talk much about the narrative, the importance of this short piece being female-directed is crucial, ''Alia's Birth'' is female-led, from the acting to behind the camera. I find it easier to communicate and collaborate when working with women. I grew up surrounded by amazing women, and my favorite films are led by women." Abbas also mentioned that the winner of the short film contest was filmmaker Sindha Agha.

Release

In May 2020, ''

'' released a first-look of the feature with major information. The film was shortlisted for the 2020

Cannes Film festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

before the festival was cancelled because of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. Abbas made it clear that the film was for theatrical viewings only. It would never have a life outside of theatres; no DVD/Blu-ray/VOD release. The film premiered on 26 August 2021.

Reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' was the first to review saying "the sudden onrush of biological imperative gives this footage a gripping undeniability and focus that this loosely collaged account of a foundering Brooklyn relationship has been searching for".

References

External links

*
Profile
on

Mubi (streaming service) Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

{{Sam Abbas, state=collapsed 2021 films 2021 drama films 2021 independent films American independent films American drama films Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City 2020s English-language films 2020s American films