NAZ & MAALIK
2015. US. 89 min. Directed by Jay Dockendorf.
NAZ & MAALIK centers around two closeted Muslim teens living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn whose daily mix of family responsibilities, street life, and raging hormones is interrupted by an undercover FBI agent who suspects them as terrorists. For tonight’s presenter, New York Times bestselling author David Barclay Moore, the film challenges many clichés of gay coming-of-age storylines associated with its genre. “Black queer people navigate our lives while wearing a multitude of masks, depending upon their circumstances,” Moore writes. “The two young actors in this film portray a wide variety of emotion and perspective throughout, helping it feel sympathetic, real, and timely.”
DAVID BARCLAY MOORE
David Barclay Moore was born and raised in Missouri. After studying creative writing at Iowa State University, film at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and language studies at l’Université de Montpellier in France, David moved to New York City, where he has served as communications coordinator for Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone and communications manager for Quality Services for the Autism Community. He has received grants from the Ford Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, Yaddo, and the Wellspring Foundation. His debut novel, The Stars Beneath Our Feet, is the 2018 Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe Award winner. He was also a semi-finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. David now lives, works, and explores in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is constantly trying to see the world differently.