When Iranian-born Rita (Della Saba, Zootopia) sets out to change her life from ordinary to extraordinary, she captures the attention of a homeland security agent (Patrick Fugit, Gone Girl, Almost Famous, Outcast) in Rita Mahtoubian is not a Terrorist, a satirical comedy about romance, terrorism, and self-help.
Written and directed by Roja Gashtili and Julia Lerman, the short was produced at AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. In 2016, the filmmakers were selected for Film Independent’s Directing Lab, where they began work on a feature-length version of the film, which was also chosen for the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Creative Producing Lab.
Watch the film below!