'Queen of My Dreams' set to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on September 8

Canadian-Pakistani film The Queen of My Dreams is set to be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 8, according to an official statement.

In the comedic drama film, Azra, a Pakistani woman living in Toronto, is unable to connect with her conservative mother.

However, Azra goes on a Bollywood-inspired journey via real and imagined memories when her father suddenly dies on a trip home to Pakistan. The memories focus on her mother’s youth in Karachi to her own coming-of-age in rural Canada.

The film has been directed by Fawzia Mirza and the star-studded cast includes Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, and Hamza Haq, Gul e Rana, Ali A Kazmi, Meher Jaffri, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Jaffar, and many more.

“I always dreamt of making a feature film in Pakistan, and this entire experience was a dream come true,” Mirza was quoted in a press release.

The film is also a “unique cross-border collaboration” as Pakistan-based producers Kamil Chima and Carol Noronha worked in tandem with Canadian producers Jason Levangie, Marc Tetreault, and Andria Wilson Mirza for a 30-day-spell in Karachi last year followed by a 10-day-spell-in-Nova Scotia, Canada.

While Canadian cinematographer Matt Irwin and Production Designer Michael Pierson collaborated with Karachi-based Cyrus Kyranjia and Imran Naeem, Fizza Ejaz and Faiz Rohani, and Minahil Chima and Nanson Gill to bring the film’s multiple time periods to life.

“The Pakistan team also included 1st AD Farjad Akhtar and Unit Production Manager Ameer Hamza, who also worked with Noronha on In Flames, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. In Flames Producer Anam Abbas is also an Executive Producer on The Queen of My Dreams,” state the press release.