Zarqa Nawaz: "Just because we’re not Toronto doesn’t mean that we’re not diverse”

Star and showrunner Zarqa Nawaz and director Candy Fox on set. Nawaz was looking for an Indigenous director, and Fox’s name kept coming up. | Photo: Peter Scoular, CBC Gem

How Zarqa Nawaz's new CBC Gem series uses comedy to expand Saskatchewan storytelling, and cultivate a new generation of television talent.

Midway through the CBC Gem series Zarqa we find the titular character, played by show creator and writer Zarqa Nawaz, in her Imam’s office along with her new white, brain surgeon boyfriend Brian for a couple’s counselling session. One-by-one, a slew of characters burst into the room:  Zarqa’s ex-husband, his white (and very young) fiancée, and, if that wasn’t bad enough, Zarqa’s mum and dad barge in with their own agenda, resulting in Zarqa hearing things one never wants to hear about their parents (and vice-versa).

This scene in episode four, Vagina Weights, sums up the kind of hilarious situation comedy that is present throughout Zarqa, the new, Regina-produced CBC Gem series about “a divorced, middle-aged Muslim woman” living in Regina who “strives to reinvent herself…until her impulsive and vindictive personality gets in the way.” 

The behind-the-scenes work… is almost as complicated as your ex walking into your couples counselling session.

But the behind-the-scenes work on this scene is almost as complicated as your ex walking into your couples counselling session with your new boyfriend. Candy Renae Fox is the director of this episode. She’s trying to map out where each one of the seven characters can stand so that the camera can capture them all.

Fox has made documentaries and docuseries, as well as acted on shows like Moccasin Flats, but this is her first time directing anything narrative, scripted and in comedy. 

“That scene really intimidated me at first,” she says. 

Zarqa (Zarqa Nawaz) at her Imam’s office (Rizwan Manji) for couple’s counselling | Peter Scoular, CBC Gem

Luckily, Fox had a support system on the Zarqa set. She credits first assistant director, Jason Bohn, and veteran director, Peter J. Wellington, for helping her get through that complicated scene.

Yes, Fox had another director on the set with her. But Wellington, who has directed episodes of shows like Kim’s Convenience and Rookie Blue, wasn’t her co-director, he was her mentor director. 

Zarqa Nawaz, the creator and writer of Zarqa, brought on three women - Fox, Iman Zawahry and Liz Whitmere - to direct the show’s six episodes (they each directed two episodes). These women all have filmmaking experience, but, like Fox, not always as a director for a narrative, scripted, comedy series.

“Not like you get to shadow. No, you get to do it, you get the credit, it’s hands on.”

“It was important for me to have female directors and also have diversity in our directors, but also to provide training and mentorship in a real way,” Nawaz said. “Not like you get to shadow. No, you get to do it, you get the credit, it’s hands on.”

So Nawaz created training to help these new talents: a director mentorship program. The program had veteran directors, Wellington and Michael Kennedy (Kids in the Hall, Little Mosque on the Prairie), to advise and guide the three directors as they filmed Zarqa. 

“A mentor helps ensure a strong vision doesn't get lost in the chaos, and actually ends up on the screen instead,” Wellington, who mentored Fox and Whitmere, says via email. “The biggest threat to low budget filmmaking is always time. My job was simply to monitor their staging of the actors, to make sure it wouldn't result in too many camera set-ups.”

Zarqa (Zarqa Nawaz) and Brian (Rob van Meenen) with Zarqa’s parents (Omar Alex Khan and Nimet Kanji) | Photo: Peter Scoular, CBC Gem

“A mentor helps ensure a strong vision doesn't get lost in the chaos, and actually ends up on the screen instead.”

Nawaz didn’t only set up the director mentorship program to bring in more diverse talent, but also to boost the film industry in Saskatchewan. Nawaz knows first-hand about cultivating film talent in the province. She created and wrote the Saskatchewan-based Little Mosque on the Prairie, one of CBC’s hit shows. 

But when the Saskatchewan government got rid of the film tax credit, there was a major decline for production in the province. A big part of the reason that CBC hits like Little Mosque and Corner Gas happened was because of that tax credit. 

“We can see how having film production has been a huge economic boon and brings in a lot of money to provinces,” Nawaz says. “I think it’s important to have an industry. And we had one! We’re hoping to get it back.”

Luckily, the provincial government recently increased its funding for film production. In response, Creative Saskatchewan - who also helped fund Zarqa - has upped its production grant caps.

Nawaz hopes this new government investment will bring more production to the province. And with that money and production, hopefully more film training for Saskatchewan residents, like the director mentorship program she had on Zarqa.

This also goes back to ways of creating more diverse stories. With the film industry focused on Toronto and Vancouver, Canadians aren’t seeing shows about life in the rest of the country, like Saskatchewan.

“Just because we’re not Toronto doesn’t mean that we’re not diverse,” Nawaz says. 

Zarqa (played by Zarqa Nawaz) | Photo: Peter Scoular, CBC Gem

“Just because we’re not Toronto doesn’t mean that we’re not diverse.”

Nawaz’s mission to create a diverse cast and crew within Saskatchewan is how she met Fox, who directed the couples counselling scene. She was asking around for Indigenous directors in Saskatchewan who could direct a few episodes of Zarqa, and Fox’s name kept coming up. Nawaz sent Fox a Facebook message asking if they could meet for coffee.

Nawaz knew from the get-go that she wanted to run the Zarqa set differently than other sets. So she didn’t only ask Fox if she was interested in directing a few episodes, but asked if she would be open to learn and to be mentored on-set. 

“I was around when Little Mosque was in production in Saskatchewan, so I knew that she had a lot of talent and hilarious writing,” Fox says. “Of course I was going to say yes. I’m glad I did.”

“We need to rebuild the industry and have training programs and mentorship programs.”

Nawaz adds that the mentorship and training from Zarqa wasn’t only beneficial for the directors - it was for her too. Zarqa is Nawaz’s first show under her own production banner, FUNdamentalist Films. She knew that the next step in her creative journey was to own the production and intellectual property of her shows. As she pitches Zarqa as a half-hour sitcom (the episodes are currently 11 minutes), she wants to show other women of colour the importance of this.

“CBC was really happy that we were filming in Saskatchewan,” Nawaz says.“I think that they’re aware there’s a lot of talent here and we need to rebuild the industry and have training programs and mentorship programs.”

Zarqa is currently streaming on CBC Gem.

Sabina Wex is a writer and podcast producer in Toronto. Follow her on @sabuwex on Twitter.