ALUM PROFILE:

iN-CONVERSATION WITH Ahmed Qaid, 2023 lAUNCH pARTICIPANT

By Marian Cook

Ahmed Qaid, a 2022 Stowe SAGindie Fellow and now 2023 Stowe Launch Fellow, is making waves. Couples, the script he brought to the 2022 Cambria Writer’s Retreat, is now a 2023 Launch Selected Project.

I sat down with Ahmed to discuss what inspired Couples, what started him on his screenwriting journey, and why it’s his mission to uplift Arab and Muslim stories.

And before diving in, Couples is the story of a young, newlywed Yemeni couple who after emigrating to San Francisco in search of a new beginnings, quickly find themselves drifting apart and crashing on the shoals of an unwelcoming America.

MC

How long have you known you wanted to be a screenwriter and what steps did you take to get into it?

I first got into screenwriting after my first semester in college—rather accidentally—after seeing an indie movie with a friend over winter break. It was my first time seeing a low-budget film based on everyday life, and it made me feel that if films could be that simple and grounded, I could move in that direction as well. I spent the next year or so teaching myself how to write scripts, most of which were terrible, and submitting haphazardly to different contests. By some stroke of luck, my first script made it to the semifinals in one of these contests, which was enough to convince me not to quit, no matter how difficult the road ahead might be. 

I read in your bio that you're also a photographer. Did you discover that passion before or after writing, and do you think your eye for a shot has helped you with your writing—you know, showing not telling?

I got into photography around the same time I got into screenwriting, although not on purpose—I just happened to get a DSLR around that time due to a desire to start documenting the people around me. I would say my photography is loosely linked to my writing in some ways: it does reflect my desire to visually document the lives of Arab and Muslim individuals. However, my approach for the two is completely different, as I look for different things in both mediums. For example, I love close-ups in photography but tend to dislike them in films. I guess the two can inform each other in some way, but I view them as being fairly removed from one another visually in my work. 

Why is it important for you to explore the experiences of Arab and Muslim individuals within contemporary America? 

Arabs and Muslims are completely invisible within America—not just from the perspective of cinema and the arts but in every facet of everyday life. Any visibility we have had in the years since 9/11 is often rooted in stereotypes and bigotry. With my work, my hope is to push back against this lack of empathy and proper representation through films that are artful, uncompromising, and truthful to the experiences of those around me. 

How does that passion tie in with your feature script, Couples?

Couples is the story of a young, newlywed Yemeni couple who immigrate to San Francisco in the early 1990s in search of a new beginning, but quickly find themselves drifting apart due to economic hardships, homesickness, and unattainable aspirations. While conceptualizing Couples, I was very particular about the characters being from Yemen rather than another Arab country, as the country has almost no films documenting its social, historical, and political circumstances. Additionally, there are thousands and thousands of Yemeni nationals living within the United States, yet their experiences have yet to be explored in American independent cinema. Because of all of this, this project felt like the perfect chance to highlight my homeland and the people who hail from it through a story that is neither fully Yemeni nor American, but a unique hybrid of the two. It is a form that doesn’t yet exist.  

What inspired this story?

The story is inspired by the experiences of many different family members of mine, namely my mother, who immigrated from Yemen to the United States in the late eighties, around the same time as the protagonists in the film. Though the film itself is fictional, the experiences of my mother and others in my family have fully informed and shaped the story—it couldn’t exist without their lives and memories. Aside from that, the film is a tribute to my homeland of Yemen and its people, who are some of the most resilient and forgotten in the world. 

What do you hope for Couples in terms of development and how has Stowe helped you along on the journey, especially now that it's a 2023 Stowe Launch project?

The ultimate goal is of course to make and direct the film. Stowe has been a big help thus far by providing me with the first major bit of support needed to get to that end goal via their Launch program. As early-career filmmakers, we often feel lost as to how to move forward upon completing a script we’d like to pursue. So, what interested and excited me most about Stowe’s Launch program is the level of experience the team has, which gives me the confidence to take the next leap forward with this story.

How did you learn about Stowe and what led you to get involved?

I heard about Stowe through an acquaintance, who suggested I apply with the script. As screenwriters, most of us are used to submitting to these kinds of programs without any expectations and immediately forgetting about our applications until the eventual rejection or acceptance. That was basically my process with this. So, I was pleasantly surprised to learn I had won a fellowship to a retreat a few months after applying, and, later that year, was even more shocked and grateful when I was selected for the Launch program. 

What was your experience like at the Cambria Writers Retreat? What were your favorite aspects?

The Cambria Retreat was my first time at any kind of retreat or lab, and my first time having my work examined by so many people at once. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, but I was pleasantly surprised by it all.

The best way to describe the atmosphere at Stowe is very warm, supportive, and open. My favorite aspect of the retreat was the community there—both the peers and the mentors—and the very thoughtful insights and feedback they provided about my project. Even beyond that, just unwinding with everyone at the end of the evening during dinner was so enjoyable. It begins to feel like a makeshift family of sorts by the end of it. 

Anything else you’d like to share or any tidbits of wisdom for other screenwriters?

The only “wisdom” I could offer at this point in my life is: watch all kinds of films—films from all eras and corners of the globe. Films completely different from the ones you’re used to or interested in. Even when these films are worlds away from what you hope to create as an artist, there’s often something of value to learn.

As someone who didn’t go to film school, my first experiences with foreign and arthouse films completely changed my trajectory as a writer and artist. If I had never discovered people like Yasujiro Ozu or Edward Yang, I wouldn’t be writing the kinds of stories I write today.

Beyond that, allow yourself to give in to your instincts and emotions. So often, we force ourselves to rationalize and intellectualize every creative decision we make, yet so much great art comes from something deeper and more inexplicable. Lean into that when you can.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Marian Cook is a former journalist, Stowe Story Labs staff member, and current USC student pursuing an MFA in directing. She’s been published over a dozen times, covering topics from local news to federal healthcare legislation. Although she loves the world of journalism, having done documentaries on a range of topics from plastic surgery to segregation in the church, her real passion lies in narrative film. She one day hopes to be a writer-director and tell strong, female-led stories, especially that of Latinas. When she’s not filming, she likes to explore, listen to blues and jazz, brush up on her French, and absorb everything science fiction related. Learn more at http://mariandcook.weebly.com/.

At Stowe Story Labs, Marian assists with all aspects of operations, writes for the newsletter, and assists with research and writing to support fundraising and communications about programs.