Khutbah follows Abu, a closeted sheikh (or Muslim priest) who feels trapped within his small New England hometown. Before being arranged into a marriage in his early 20s, Abu had dreams of becoming a comic artist, but obligation to community superseded his creative ambitions. Now, he struggles to address increasingly apparent intimacy issues with his wife. When the first boy Abu ever loved returns to town, reminding him of all he's sacrificed to get to where he is, Abu must reckon with what he truly wants out of life or risk hurting the people that he cares about the most.

With anti-Muslim hate crimes and propaganda reaching record highs in the past two years alone, it is more important than ever to tell nuanced Muslim stories. By casting a queer Muslim man as a religious leader, Khutbah complicates narratives that pose Islam as an inherently homophobic religion.

Queer coming-of-age films helped me to better understand myself as I came of age but rarely, if ever, did I engage with media that reflected my lived experience. It would have changed my life to see a film like this when I was younger and struggling to come to terms with my sexuality. Inspired by the likes of Daniel Ribeiro's The Way He Looks and Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, this project navigates a second coming of age from a Muslim perspective.

Abu's signature illustration style is largely inspired by my Uncle Blackie, who is an LA-based charcoal illustrator. In contemplating Abu's relationship to art as an outlet for unspoken fear and desire, I decided to incorporate animation into this film. The animated sequences serve two key functions:

• To create a third dimension in which Abu can dissociate from the competing pressures of his present reality
• To beckon towards unrealized possibility beyond Abu's immediate circumstances

I grew up by the book — in this case, the Qur’an. Five days a week, I would spend hours in the mosque memorizing its verses, along with a broad assortment of religious texts. My appetite for literature and desperation for approval made me the perfect student and for a while, it seemed like my going to an Islamic university was inevitable.

Any spare time I had on hand was usually spent either at band practice or rehearsing for the school musical. Secular music is largely condemned in more traditional Muslim communities, so I kept my extracurriculars on the hush. Despite whatever flack I caught for it, performing on stage was the only time I truly felt like myself.

After my family and I left my childhood home in Maine, I very quickly became empowered to pursue my creative ambitions. As a teenager, I stopped going to the mosque and devoted the better part of a decade to studying acting. Upon graduating from USC, where I earned a dual BA in Theater and Narrative Studies, I began writing this film.

It’s changed immensely since its birth in 2021, but this is probably the most itself the project’s ever been. The seed of my idea was this: what would it be like to create a portal to an alternate version of my life? One where I’d caved to cultural expectations and forgone my artistry for external validation. Even in that reality, I have to believe that the divine truth of who I am would bubble up to the surface eventually.

When I was a kid, it was inconceivable to think that there were other queer Muslim people out there. Now, I have gotten to know and love countless LGBTQ+ Muslims, whose very presence has been life affirming. Connecting with them and writing this story has completely changed my life for the better, pushing me to take charge of my own narrative. I want this film to expand upon that community even further, acting as a lighthouse for other queer & trans Muslims.

DEVELOPMENT

Prior to writing this short, I conceived of Khutbah as a full length feature script in 2021. Through the 2022 Lambda Literary Writers' Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices, 2024 Sundance Trans Possibilities Intensive, and 2025 Fatales Forward Fellowship, I have been granted resources and mentorship to develop it even further.

PRE-PRODUCTION

For the past several months, we have been meticulously prepping for production. After poring over numerous drafts of this script, securing grant funds, and locking in our production team, we are finally set to launch our campaign. Over the next couple of months leading up to principal photography, we will bring on the remainder of our crew, conduct casting, and scout key locations.

PRODUCTION

Principal photography will be taking place across Los Angeles County between November 12th and November 16th.

POST-PRODUCTION

We are already getting the ball rolling on what promises to be an intensive several months of post-production, with the goal of picture locking by May 2026. Seeing as to how this project is partially animated, it is paramount that we afford our animation team as much time as possible to set them up for success. These efforts are being spearheaded by our animation & VFX consultant, Leah Dubuc.

The score of this film is inspired by nasheed (Islamic hymnal singing), as well as a mix of classic Arabic and Somali music. To make sure everything sounds culturally authentic, we are looking to procure the services of a composer who is of the culture and can seamlessly integrate these styles.

DISTRIBUTION & FESTIVALS

Once we’ve wrapped post-production, our priority is making sure that this project reaches as far as humanly possible. 

Given our production timeline and pre-existing relationship with the Institute, we are hopeful for a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. We will also be submitting for specifically Black, queer, and Muslim festivals, such as NewFest and BlackStar.

Following our run on the circuit, the dream is to land distribution for Khutbah on a major streaming platform so that it can be as accessible as possible to wider audiences. Simultaneously, we will use the short as a calling card to solicit investors for the feature film adaptation.

Indie film is a marathon, not a race. This project has been in development for several years and now more than ever, it is exactly the kind of story that the world needs.

We have been incredibly lucky to have this production funded by organizations such as The Sundance Institute, Transgender Film Center, and Film Fatales — bringing us to nearly half of our goal! That said, it will take a village to get us across the finish line. Any contribution, big or small, will directly support our talented cast & crew.

Follow us on Instagram @khutbahfilm for updates as we approach production in November!