Mustache, written and directed by Pakistani-American filmmaker Imran J. Khan, is a warm and funny coming-of-age story about Ilyas, a 13-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in late-90’s Northern California. After his parents yank him out of his comfortable Islamic private school, Ilyas is forced to face life at public school. His fears about joining public school are made worse by insecurities due to his inescapable, prepubescent MUSTACHE. While he hatches a hilarious plan to return to his old school, Ilyas finds a meaningful outlet in his new school’s theater program and forges friendships with non-Muslim kids that accept him – but Ilyas must also learn to accept himself.
For us as law students, Mustache gives us a chance to consider what it means to belong to communities that carry their own norms, expectations, and sources of authority. Please join us Monday, September 7th at 6:30pm for a free screening of the film followed by a Q+A with the film’s director.
Writer/Director
Imran J. Khan is an award-winning Pakistani-American editor and filmmaker. As a director, his short films, including PROM, have screened at major film festivals, been broadcast on national television and have been awarded Vimeo Staff Pick. His debut feature, MUSTACHE, executive produced by Riz Ahmed, Ramy Youssef, and Christopher Storer (THE BEAR), premiered in competition at SXSW in 2023 and won the Audience Award. Khan has numerous editorial credits; on the TV side, IWAJU for Walt Disney Animation Studios and DISENCHANTMENT for Netflix; and on the feature side, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU; and the critically acclaimed documentary SHIRKERS. In 2022, Imran was selected as one of the inaugural fellows of the Pillars Artist Fellowship spearheaded by Riz Ahmed. He is a graduate of NYU’S MFA Film Production program and a San Francisco Bay Area native who began his filmmaking journey at the University of California, Davis making viral internet sketch videos in his spare time while pursuing a degree in Biological Systems Engineering.