Top 100 Most Anticipated American Indie Films of 2018: #100. Nijla Mu’min’s Jinn

Jinn

We begin our countdown with this micro-budget sized feature film debut revolving around identity issues in a acutely complex America. Nijla Mu’min pulls from her own personal childhood sprinkling Jinn with relatable and topical issues that made it a must for workshopping.

Supported by the San Francisco Film Society’s FilmHouse Residency program, IFP’s Narrative Lab and 2017 Sundance Institute Sound and Music Design Lab at Skywalker Ranch, this features Simone Missick, Zoe Renee, Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. and tells the tale of a 17 year-old carefree girl named Summer (Renee) whose world is turned upside down when her mother Jade (Missick) abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person which prompts Summer to reevaluate her own life and identity. A Filmmaker Mag 25 personality, according to Mu’min, this screenplay deals with “black women and girls straddling dual worlds and at major turning points related to sexuality, family, identity or death.” With these themes, perhaps we’ve got a distant cousin to 2016’s The Fits.

Release Date/Prediction: Depending on where they’re at in the post-production phase, SXSW Competition or Tribeca now feel like the best bets for a world premiere, but it wouldn’t be out of character for this micro film to shore up at Sundance in 2019.