Fi Shinu?
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Comedy, Drama
A Sudanese-American man in his late twenties tries to confront generational wounds by fighting his uncle at the worst possible time: a family gathering during Ramadan.
Fi Shinu?
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Comedy, Drama
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $19,600 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
167 supporters | followers
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A Sudanese-American man in his late twenties tries to confront generational wounds by fighting his uncle at the worst possible time: a family gathering during Ramadan.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
This is an emotionally driven dramedy. It follows our main character, Majid, as he tries to navigate his mental health struggles that are quietly intensified by his own family. At its core, this film explores what happens when trauma is dismissed and isn’t given language. When its absorbed into silence until finally it has nowhere else to go.
The story unfolds as a slow internal pressure builds inside our main character. He tries to stay composed. He tries to function. He tries to keep the peace. But family dynamics, cultural expectations, and unspoken wounds keep pushing him inward until the weight becomes impossible to contain. And we do this through comedy.
While the subject matter deals with mental health, family tension, and inherited trauma, the story is not told as a 
relentlessly heavy or bleak experience. Instead, moments of humor emerge naturally from family interactions, cultural specificity, and the everyday absurdities that exist even in the most emotionally charged households.
The comedy is not used to undermine the seriousness of the subject it’s used to tell the truth more honestly.
I want to tell a Sudanese story that is not about war, famine, or politics. I want to show the private, internal battles we fight inside immigrant homes. The emotional turmoils we inherit and never speak about. Fi Shinu?!? sits in the tension between cultural silence and personal eruption. It’s the fight we pretend will never happen that finally breaks through, and in this story it happens at the worts possible time: Ramadan aka the holiest month of the year.
Ramadan is supposed to remind us to forgive, restrain, and elevate. That is exactly why a blow-up during Ramadan hits harder. It is hilarious in its timing and devastating in its truth. The film lives in that contradiction.
Sudan is only ever seen through the lens of catastrophe. War, genocide, and displacement is the only Western archive of our identity. I refuse to let that be the only narrative. This film insists that Sudanese people also have everyday lives, humor, pettiness, mental health battles, and family dysfunction just like everybody else. Those stories are worthy of the screen.
Furthermore, this film is about African families who bury emotional wounds under culture, religion, and reputation. Mental health trauma doesn’t vanish just because we don’t name it. We carry it into adulthood, marriage, parenting and Ramadan dinners.
Your contribution is more than financial support. It's a vote of confidence in a story that rarely gets the space or resources it deserves. It means this film gets made with care instead of compromise. It means we can hire a professional cast and crew, secure locations, and give the story the time and attention it requires.
Your support allows us to tell this story honestly without rushing, cutting corners, or diluting its emotional truth. I
t means we can depict mental health and family dynamics within the Sudanese diaspora with nuance, dignity, and authenticity — rather than reducing them to stereotypes or silence.
It also allows us to show Sudan and Sudanese people in a fuller, more human light beyond the narrow narratives of war and genocide that so often define how our stories are seen.
Your contribution helps create space for conversations that are often avoided: about trauma, healing, and the quiet ways family dynamics shape who we become while honoring the depth and richness of Sudanese identity.
Most importantly, it sends a clear message that stories rooted in lived experience, cultural specificity, and emotional truth deserve to be seen, supported, and preserved.
Thank you for being part of this film’s foundation.
Timeline
Early March 2026 - Pre-Production
Late March 2026 - Casting
Early April 2026 - Table reads and rehearsals
Late April 2026 - Production
Early May 2026 - Edit, sound design and color grade
Late May 2026 - Picture lock
June 2026 - Festival Submissions
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Color Grading
Costs $2,000
Help us cover the cost of professional color grading to give the film its cinematic visual polish.
Sound Design
Costs $1,500
Ensures dialogue and humor lands clearly!
Hair & Makeup on set.
Costs $1,500
Helps us present characters authentically and professionally.
Meals for cast and crew on set!
Costs $1,500
Help us fuel the people bringing this story to life!
Production Design
Costs $1,500
Helps us authentically recreate the Sudanese home and Ramadan dinner table at the heart of Fi Shinu!
Crew
Costs $7,000
We need a strong crew to fill these roles: 1st AC, Gaffer, Grip, Sound, 1st AD, and most importantly PA support!
Location
Costs $2,500
This contribution helps secure the locations that allow us to authentically bring the world of Fi Shinu to life on screen.
Festival Fees
Costs $500
Helps us cover festival submission fees so Fi Shinu can reach global audiences and bring Sudanese stories to new screens.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Tarek Mohamed Abdelkhalig (Writer/Director) is a Sudanese-American writer, musician, and multifaceted storyteller whose work bridges cultures, genres, and mediums. Born in Khartoum and raised in Minneapolis after immigrating through the UN Refugee Resettlement Program, Tarek draws on a deeply layered identity to tell stories that are as emotionally grounded as they are culturally expansive.
He first gained attention with his original web series Interracial, a comedic exploration of modern interracial dating and identity, which he created, wrote, starred in, and produced. The project led to his signing with Gotham Group and opened the door to further development opportunities.
Through his warm personality and unique voice, Tarek has cultivated powerful creative relationships and built a growing slate of original scripts. These include Love on a Moto, a feature film set against the backdrop of an unexpected cross-continental romance, and Clout, a dramedy that satirizes the collision of art, ambition, and internet fame.
Tarek’s writing centers underrepresented voices, threading humor and truth through heavy topics. In addition to screenwriting, he’s also a director, actor, rapper and producer whose music fuses Afrobeats, hip hop, and storytelling to reflect the joys and tensions of diasporic life. His mission is to make people feel seen, spark joy, and tell the kinds of stories he never got to see growing up.
Anthony “AJay” Wells (Executive Producer) is a multi-hyphenate creative whose journey in the performing arts began in high school. Driven by his passion for storytelling, he moved to Los Angeles to attend an acting conservatory, where he honed his craft both on stage and on screen.
Over time, Anthony discovered a deep love for working behind the camera and transitioned into producing. Since then, he has produced multiple web series, animated projects, and music videos. His diverse experience allowed him to develop a strong eye for story, collaboration, and bringing bold ideas to life.
He is thrilled to be partnering with an incredible team to bring Fi Shinu to life and looks forward to sharing this exciting project with audiences everywhere.
Erik Kollasch (Director of Photography/Executive Editor) is a filmmaker, director, and seasoned editor whose career spans documentaries, television, music videos, and live performance events such as The Grammys and The Oscars. With a foundation in Film Studies and Communications from the University of Minnesota, he built his career working on productions ranging from independent projects to large-scale releases — including the Netflix Original series Down To Earth with Zac Efron. He brings both a director’s vision and an editor’s precision to every production.
Erik has earned a reputation for shaping stories that feel sharp, emotionally grounded, and visually compelling. He thrives on collaboration and believes the best work comes from teams pushing each other to bring out the strongest version of every story.
Moses Truzman aka Audiomoe (Director of Photography/Composer) is a Los Angeles–based cinematographer and composer working at the intersection of image and sound. With a foundation in design and creative direction, he brings a holistic storytelling approach to film—shaping projects visually through the lens while crafting original scores that define tone, pacing, and emotional impact.
His work spans film, television, documentaries, branded campaigns, and live performance. As a composer and music supervisor, Moses has created and curated music for major global brands including Nike, American Express, Target, and Neutrogena. For the past three years, he has contributed to music supervision for both the Academy Awards (Oscars) and the Grammy Awards, helping shape the sound of two of the most influential stages in entertainment.
Bridging cinematography and composition, Moses approaches each project as a unified cinematic experience—where music and image are developed in conversation, resulting in emotionally resonant, immersive storytelling.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
This is an emotionally driven dramedy. It follows our main character, Majid, as he tries to navigate his mental health struggles that are quietly intensified by his own family. At its core, this film explores what happens when trauma is dismissed and isn’t given language. When its absorbed into silence until finally it has nowhere else to go.
The story unfolds as a slow internal pressure builds inside our main character. He tries to stay composed. He tries to function. He tries to keep the peace. But family dynamics, cultural expectations, and unspoken wounds keep pushing him inward until the weight becomes impossible to contain. And we do this through comedy.
While the subject matter deals with mental health, family tension, and inherited trauma, the story is not told as a relentlessly heavy or bleak experience. Instead, moments of humor emerge naturally from family interactions, cultural specificity, and the everyday absurdities that exist even in the most emotionally charged households.
The comedy is not used to undermine the seriousness of the subject it’s used to tell the truth more honestly.
I want to tell a Sudanese story that is not about war, famine, or politics. I want to show the private, internal battles we fight inside immigrant homes. The emotional turmoils we inherit and never speak about. Fi Shinu?!? sits in the tension between cultural silence and personal eruption. It’s the fight we pretend will never happen that finally breaks through, and in this story it happens at the worts possible time: Ramadan aka the holiest month of the year.
Ramadan is supposed to remind us to forgive, restrain, and elevate. That is exactly why a blow-up during Ramadan hits harder. It is hilarious in its timing and devastating in its truth. The film lives in that contradiction.
Sudan is only ever seen through the lens of catastrophe. War, genocide, and displacement is the only Western archive of our identity. I refuse to let that be the only narrative. This film insists that Sudanese people also have everyday lives, humor, pettiness, mental health battles, and family dysfunction just like everybody else. Those stories are worthy of the screen.
Furthermore, this film is about African families who bury emotional wounds under culture, religion, and reputation. Mental health trauma doesn’t vanish just because we don’t name it. We carry it into adulthood, marriage, parenting and Ramadan dinners.
Your contribution is more than financial support. It's a vote of confidence in a story that rarely gets the space or resources it deserves. It means this film gets made with care instead of compromise. It means we can hire a professional cast and crew, secure locations, and give the story the time and attention it requires.
Your support allows us to tell this story honestly without rushing, cutting corners, or diluting its emotional truth. It means we can depict mental health and family dynamics within the Sudanese diaspora with nuance, dignity, and authenticity — rather than reducing them to stereotypes or silence.
It also allows us to show Sudan and Sudanese people in a fuller, more human light beyond the narrow narratives of war and genocide that so often define how our stories are seen.
Your contribution helps create space for conversations that are often avoided: about trauma, healing, and the quiet ways family dynamics shape who we become while honoring the depth and richness of Sudanese identity.
Most importantly, it sends a clear message that stories rooted in lived experience, cultural specificity, and emotional truth deserve to be seen, supported, and preserved.
Thank you for being part of this film’s foundation.
Timeline
Early March 2026 - Pre-Production
Late March 2026 - Casting
Early April 2026 - Table reads and rehearsals
Late April 2026 - Production
Early May 2026 - Edit, sound design and color grade
Late May 2026 - Picture lock
June 2026 - Festival Submissions
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Color Grading
Costs $2,000
Help us cover the cost of professional color grading to give the film its cinematic visual polish.
Sound Design
Costs $1,500
Ensures dialogue and humor lands clearly!
Hair & Makeup on set.
Costs $1,500
Helps us present characters authentically and professionally.
Meals for cast and crew on set!
Costs $1,500
Help us fuel the people bringing this story to life!
Production Design
Costs $1,500
Helps us authentically recreate the Sudanese home and Ramadan dinner table at the heart of Fi Shinu!
Crew
Costs $7,000
We need a strong crew to fill these roles: 1st AC, Gaffer, Grip, Sound, 1st AD, and most importantly PA support!
Location
Costs $2,500
This contribution helps secure the locations that allow us to authentically bring the world of Fi Shinu to life on screen.
Festival Fees
Costs $500
Helps us cover festival submission fees so Fi Shinu can reach global audiences and bring Sudanese stories to new screens.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Tarek Mohamed Abdelkhalig (Writer/Director) is a Sudanese-American writer, musician, and multifaceted storyteller whose work bridges cultures, genres, and mediums. Born in Khartoum and raised in Minneapolis after immigrating through the UN Refugee Resettlement Program, Tarek draws on a deeply layered identity to tell stories that are as emotionally grounded as they are culturally expansive.
He first gained attention with his original web series Interracial, a comedic exploration of modern interracial dating and identity, which he created, wrote, starred in, and produced. The project led to his signing with Gotham Group and opened the door to further development opportunities.
Through his warm personality and unique voice, Tarek has cultivated powerful creative relationships and built a growing slate of original scripts. These include Love on a Moto, a feature film set against the backdrop of an unexpected cross-continental romance, and Clout, a dramedy that satirizes the collision of art, ambition, and internet fame.
Tarek’s writing centers underrepresented voices, threading humor and truth through heavy topics. In addition to screenwriting, he’s also a director, actor, rapper and producer whose music fuses Afrobeats, hip hop, and storytelling to reflect the joys and tensions of diasporic life. His mission is to make people feel seen, spark joy, and tell the kinds of stories he never got to see growing up.
Anthony “AJay” Wells (Executive Producer) is a multi-hyphenate creative whose journey in the performing arts began in high school. Driven by his passion for storytelling, he moved to Los Angeles to attend an acting conservatory, where he honed his craft both on stage and on screen.
Over time, Anthony discovered a deep love for working behind the camera and transitioned into producing. Since then, he has produced multiple web series, animated projects, and music videos. His diverse experience allowed him to develop a strong eye for story, collaboration, and bringing bold ideas to life.
He is thrilled to be partnering with an incredible team to bring Fi Shinu to life and looks forward to sharing this exciting project with audiences everywhere.
Erik Kollasch (Director of Photography/Executive Editor) is a filmmaker, director, and seasoned editor whose career spans documentaries, television, music videos, and live performance events such as The Grammys and The Oscars. With a foundation in Film Studies and Communications from the University of Minnesota, he built his career working on productions ranging from independent projects to large-scale releases — including the Netflix Original series Down To Earth with Zac Efron. He brings both a director’s vision and an editor’s precision to every production.
Erik has earned a reputation for shaping stories that feel sharp, emotionally grounded, and visually compelling. He thrives on collaboration and believes the best work comes from teams pushing each other to bring out the strongest version of every story.
Moses Truzman aka Audiomoe (Director of Photography/Composer) is a Los Angeles–based cinematographer and composer working at the intersection of image and sound. With a foundation in design and creative direction, he brings a holistic storytelling approach to film—shaping projects visually through the lens while crafting original scores that define tone, pacing, and emotional impact.
His work spans film, television, documentaries, branded campaigns, and live performance. As a composer and music supervisor, Moses has created and curated music for major global brands including Nike, American Express, Target, and Neutrogena. For the past three years, he has contributed to music supervision for both the Academy Awards (Oscars) and the Grammy Awards, helping shape the sound of two of the most influential stages in entertainment.
Bridging cinematography and composition, Moses approaches each project as a unified cinematic experience—where music and image are developed in conversation, resulting in emotionally resonant, immersive storytelling.