Issue 27: "Our stories are the key to our liberation." — Audre Lorde  December 3rd 2024

4 Ways 'Shook' and 'Really Happy Someday' TIFF films Inspire Authentic Storytelling by Marginalized Creators"

Creators from marginalized communities are better at authentically capturing their communities' lived experiences and identities than the mainstream. Two Toronto-based underrepresented filmmakers, Amar Wala, director of "Shook," and J Stevens, director of "Really Happy Someday," had world premieres of their films at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September.

Atom Egoyan, an Academy Award-nominated Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer, shared advice for emerging filmmakers. Serving as TIFF's Jury Head for the 2024 of international films, Egoyan emphasized the importance of authenticity in storytelling saying:

“Find out what it is that is absolutely you. What is it about the vision you have that you think is completely unique, and to hold on to that fervently. Not to think about what it is that would be like other films you’ve seen, but rather what is absolutely special to your way of looking at the world.”

Directors Wala and Stevens, along with their co-writers, created unique films by drawing from their own experiences within marginalized communities. Their deep understanding of these communities allowed them to tell authentic stories. Today, every creator needs to understand their community to tell unique stories.

In this article, we write about 4 Ways 'Shook' and 'Really Happy Someday' TIFF films Inspire Authentic Storytelling by Marginalized Creators in Toronto. We plan to interview the creators of "Shook" and "Really Happy Someday" in 2025. They are seeking distribution for their films in Canada.

The backstory of Shook and Really Happy Someday

Shook was co-written by Adnan Khan and Amar Wala and it was their first feature film. It tells the story of Ashish (Saamer Usmani), an aspiring writer from Scarborough, whose dream is to move from his parents' home in Scarborough to downtown Toronto and make it as a writer. Ashish faces various challenges, from his dad being diagnosed with Parkinson's to his South Asian parents separating and his book being rejected by publishers as a struggling young new author.

Really Happy Someday was co-written by Breton Lalama and J Stevens. Breton plays the lead actor, and Stevens directed the film, which is their first feature film. This film, set in Toronto, is a coming-of-age story about a transgender man and formerly successful musical theatre actor who is struggling to find work while in the early stages of transitioning. The film explores his journey of learning how to sing in his register after transitioning.

1) Embracing your identity crisis will help you find yourself

"Shook" and "Really Happy Someday" are coming-of-age stories about two professionals in their twenties chasing professional and personal success in Toronto. Like many young adults, they experience a range of emotions, from excitement to fear, confidence to confusion, and being alone and in a community.

Psychologist Erik Erikson, in his book Identity: Youth and Crisis, says, "Identity is the crisis of adolescence; it is the crisis of who one is, what one can be, and what one believes in." This phase of a young person's life is associated with questioning yourself and your values, reassessing your life, uncertainty, confusion, and experiencing transition events. It is also known for moments of clarity, joy, laughter, community and connection. It’s normal to go through an identity crisis because it helps you develop a stronger sense of self—who you are and what you want to achieve.

Source Image from Really Happy Someday film

Speaking about the difficulty of finding the real you, co-writer Breton Lalama who plays the main character Z in Really Happy Someday told Screenfish:

"It has to be an inner thing. You can't really get there without someone seeing it in you. You have to have people see you as the you that you're swearing you are so that you can step into that. Then once you have the privelege of feeling seen, you can tell the truth."

2) Co-create with likeminded creators to tell the best story

Every creator struggles to find their authentic voice. The word, "authentic" was the highest online search word in 2023. One way to find your voice and your authentic self is to find a fellow creator from your community who gets you and vice versa. Collaborating creates feedback loops, and ultimately a better outcome and story. Directors Wala and Stevens wanted to tell the best stories and sought out co-writing partners that made their film projects better.

Shook: Amar Wala and Adnan Khan met as childhood friends in Toronto. Their creative paths differed in that Wala was a filmmaker and Khan was a novelist. They reconnected many years later to transform Wala's short film from 2018, also called Shook, into a feature film. On collaborating with Khan, Wala said they wrote scenes independently, then met up to share notes at pivotal stages." These pivotal moments don't only focus on the struggle and trauma but also simple mundane events we take for granted and are meaningful and necessary.

Really Happy Someday: The film explores topics like identity, gender, transitioning, community, and self-acceptance based on the first-hand experiences of Lalama and Stevens who are part of the trans community in Toronto. Stevens learned about Lalama by following him on Instagram where he talked about his experience transitioning. They didn't know each other very well; yet, Stevens asked Lalama to co-write the script and act in the film because they knew it would be better for the community.

Identity, gender, community, and self-acceptance are strong themes in Really Happy Someday that represent the lived experiences of Lalama and Stevens. Stevens wanted to showcase positive aspects like the joy and friendships that emerge from transitioning while fighting to be seen for who you are. Lalama told Variety,

“By making visible these nuances and realities of transness, we demystify the identity, and I do believe that demystification is a step towards reducing fear and hatred."

3) Highlight Joy in Marginalized Communities, Not Just Struggle and Self Doubt

Stories about marginalized people are greenlit and funded by mainstream media because they check off boxes that fit stereotypical stories around struggle and trauma. They miss the nuances and dualities of marginalized voices, especially the light-hearted, joyful, and humous side. The hard part about being a creator today is to be able to make a living telling the most authentic stories. Marginalized creators often experience imposter syndrome and self-doubt and question if their nuanced and real stories about their communities will be funded. The creators "Shook" and "Really Happy Someday" achieved professional milestones y making their first feature films that showcased the full range of emotions in their characters.

Shook: The main character, Ashish (Saamer Usmani), in the film, faces rejection in his dream to become a published author. In one scene, his book is rejected by publishers for not being "authentic enough", even though his book is about his personal story. The publisher asks him to edit his work because readers want exoticism. Wala said in an interview that funders often prefer stereotypical stories about marginalized people that focus on trauma and struggle. Stories that include,

“the everyday, the regular things, are not important enough or not valuable enough to be funded."

Wala also says the reality of becoming a filmmaker today requires regularly asking,

"Do you love this enough to grind it out?”

Really Happy Someday: Being realistic about your life and career often means confronting your identity and purpose. The struggles of the main character, Z, would make many people want to give up their dream. Z contemplates giving up pursuing musical theatre. His transphobic agent encourages him instead to pursue TV and film. In one scene, Z questions transitioning and impulsively throws away his T-shot medication. Z encounters self-doubt repeatedly but also finds moments of joy and meaning that make him want to work harder to pursue his dreams. Stevens told Extra,

"Finding your authentic voice, finding the stories that you feel like you authentically can tell, is something everyone is doing all the time, whether it is a creative endeavour or with your life.”

Celebrating your joy and finding creators who get you makes it easier to find the real you.

Source Image from Shook film

4) Highlight local authentic stories about time and place

In many films, Toronto has been portrayed as an American city like Chicago. Shook and Really Happy Someday showcase authentic places and local culture in Toronto. In an interview with TIFF, Wala said,

"This [Toronto] is a city that often plays other cities in movies, and even when you do get specifically Toronto films...they're not often about the little things we experience in the city or parts of growing up".

Rather than play to the most popular places in the city, the creators of Shook and Really Happy Someday chose ordinary locations that might resonate with the community. Creators who tell stories using local places that are meaningful at that time in their lives are more likely to connect with an audience that feels the same.

For Shook, Wala was inspired by the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which connected people to specific places in the Boston community. The Shook team wanted to highlight the characters of spaces in Toronto and Scarborough. Wala said, "We realize that we've written a weird, Toronto, Brown version of Good Will Hunting." A British viewer who watched Shook at TIFF said they strongly related to the specificity of the film. Some places that may resonate with local audiences are watching Ashish and his friends miss the last TTC train and then ride the night bus to Scarborough, ordering beef patties at Warden station, eating Chili Chicken at Federick Restaurant in Scarborough, and using English names when ordering food at the restaurant takes viewers back to when they experienced something similar, whether in Toronto or elsewhere. Shook represented universal themes of home, work, and culture. Toronto is where work and culture happen whereas Scarborough is where family and a more ethnic culture occur. Shook contrasts the immigrant suburb vs. downtown experience and invisible barriers like access to housing and good jobs with the right connections.

Really Happy Someday features shots of Toronto's LGBTQ+ culture, such as Lesbian Night at The Beaver. Stevens says, "Everything about this film brought me into the world of the Toronto arts community.” Time is a theme that overlaps with Z, the main character going through their transition. Stevens and Lalama wrote the script soon after Lalama finished transitioning. The film was made over a year, so time played an important role based on the experience of the film's creators. Over this period, Z learns how to find their voice and adapt to a new life as a trans person. The places chosen and the relationships where they happen show how the characters become more comfortable and accepting of themselves. Trans and non-trans audiences will likely feel the growth that Z experiences to the extent that they are in a better and possibly happier place.

Creators from marginalized communities who share unique stories will make an impact.

The stories of marginalized creators that also include joy, laughter, and everyday mundane living often shed light on more serious equity and social justice issues. Highlighting positive, light-hearted, and less political narratives through film humanizes marginalized communities and opens the door to having real conversations.

Gina Prince-Bythewood, an award-winning Black American director of The Woman King and Love & Basketball, said it's important for creators of color to "Allow your passion for creating social impact to push you past the 'no’s' you’ll encounter." Shook and Really Happy Someday will inspire future marginalized creators to dig deep and find their own unique stories worth telling for their communities.

Ziga Poromon is a third-year Law and Society student at the University of Calgary and aspiring actress and screenwriter.