\n\t\u201cYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother<\/a>,\u201d which debuted on Saturday night at the Toronto International Film Festival, stars two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali<\/a> as Latif, a hired assassin whose secret occupation clashes with his home life when his wife dies suddenly. The film follows Latif as he navigates single fatherhood, including a desperate search for breast milk for his infant daughter. Adia plays Latif\u2019s strong-willed teenage daughter Fatiha, who is forced to grow up quickly as she helps her father care for her younger brother and sister.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShe was just really complex,\u201d Adia said, explaining what drew her to the role. \u201cThat\u2019s how young, teenage girls are. But when we see them being portrayed on screen, generally speaking, they are not [complex]. They\u2019re pretty black and white. \u2018Oh, she\u2019s just moody, hormonal and thinking about boys, and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFatiha was written differently. \u201cThis girl has crushes, yeah, but that\u2019s the least of her,\u201d Adia explains. \u201cShe is dealing with very deep grief. Then also having to rise to the occasion to be in a maternal role to her siblings. Here is a character with depth, with real emotion. She\u2019s experiencing real-life things in real time and having to navigate them with a 15-year-old brain.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother\u201d will be released theatrically by Amazon MGM Studios and Orion Pictures. The film debuts in NYC\/LA theaters on Sept. 25, followed by a nationwide rollout in October. <\/p>\n \n\tAdia auditioned for the part over Zoom, then Tariq flew to D.C. to meet her during a 30-minute break she had from her classes. (Adia was studying in a film program with acclaimed Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima.)<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe didn\u2019t talk too much about the role, but he asked me, \u2018How do you envision Fatiha coming to life?\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cI did a little bit of research into the name: it\u2019s one of the first openings in the Quran, so it means the opener, the call to action. So we talked a bit about how Fatiha is the call to her father to parenthood, to come forth and be present.\u201d The final step in the process was a chemistry read with Ali.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cInside, I was screaming. But I was like, \u2018Get the screams out now so that you can be a regular ass bitch on this call, Adia. Like, don\u2019t play around. You\u2019re going to work, so please act accordingly,\u2019\u201d she recalls, laughing.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tAdia (as Fatiha), Mahershala Ali (as Latif) and Jahleel Kamara\u00a0(as Qadir) in \u201cYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother,\u201d from Amazon MGM Studios.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJaclyn Martinez\/Amazon MGM Studios<\/p>\n \n\tIt was kismet that she and Ali were finally meeting, since she\u2019d auditioned to play his daughter in another project a year prior but didn\u2019t get the part. (\u201cSo that was wild, that here I am auditioning again,\u201d she said.) And once she was in the room with Ali, it wasn\u2019t difficult to get in work mode. \u201cNow I\u2019m acting, and it doesn\u2019t really matter who is opposite me; I\u2019m just doing what I love, and hopefully the other person is doing what they love. And thankfully Mahershala loves doing what he does, and so it was magic.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe role came at the time Adia was undertaking another passion \u2014 training for her doula certification.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to be a full-time artist. One of the most courageous things that you can do is to commit yourself fully to your artistry,\u201d she said. But there\u2019s a reason behind the \u201cstarving artist\u201d stereotype. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to support yourself in life,\u201d she continues. \u201cBirth work is something that fills my soul \u2014 spiritually and emotionally \u2014 but it fills my pockets financially, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHer interest in birth work began when she was nine and witnessed her cousin give birth; the experience was life-changing, and she knew she wanted to be a part of that sacred practice as an adult.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI was fortunate to be mentored by the midwife and the doula who were at that birth,\u201d Adia said. But her training overlapped with her shooting schedule. \u201cThere were days when I would be on my phone in class, and I\u2019d be on set. They\u2019re setting up for a scene, and I have my headphones in one ear, listening to them talking about conception.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAdia is now certified \u2014 both as a doula and a budding movie star. Her performance in \u201cYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother\u201d has been hailed as a true standout among a cast that is packed with major talents, including Emmy winner Tramell Tillman, Giancarlo Esposito and John Cho.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI do birth work as my day job, and I\u2019ve always thought I\u2019ll probably end up becoming a midwife,\u201d she adds. \u201cLife is constantly shifting and changing. These are my passions: I love film. I love birth work. I\u2019ll see where they meet, or don\u2019t. And what happens next? I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIf and when those movie offers start rolling in, Adia is more prepared than ever after working with Ali. \u201cIn my first few projects, I\u2019m new, and I\u2019m thinking, \u2018It\u2019s just a blessing to be here. I\u2019m just going to do my job, and I won\u2019t say anything, and I\u2019m not gonna make a ruckus,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s not a bad thing. That works for some people.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut Ali taught her to follow her instincts as an artist and to speak up when she wanted to try something during a take. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWatching Mahershala model that, and then opening the space for me to do that as well, made me feel empowered to be able to show up,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a master class and I got paid for it, which was cool.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-five-year-old newcomer Adia never really imagined becoming a movie star. Growing up, she was focused on becoming a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[278335,146,85,46,43560,397,646,278336],"class_list":["post-614938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-bassam-tariq","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mahershala-ali","tag-movies","tag-tiff","tag-your-mother-your-mother-your-mother"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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