American Eid is a live action short film in the Launchpad series from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and was released on Disney+ on May 28, 2021.
Synopsis[]
Ameena, a Muslim Pakistani immigrant, wakes up on Eid to find out that she has to go to school. Homesick and heartbroken, she goes on a mission to make Eid a public-school holiday, and in the process, reconnects with her older sister, and embraces her new home, while her new home embraces her.
Plot[]
Following Ramadan, Pakistani immigrant Ameena is excited to celebrate Eid, a three day holiday where she can spend time with her family, and had built a tent for her and her older sister Zainab to play in. Zainab, who prefers to be called Z and does not like to discuss her cultural traditions with others, is bitter as she had been kicked off her dance team due to missing out for the past couple of weeks. Their parents inform them that they will be unable to celebrate Eid due to the school system not acknowledging it as a holiday, upsetting Ameena. Nevertheless, she resolves to come to school in her traditional Eid attire, much to the embarrassment of Zainab.
After seeing her classmate Teni successfully use a petition to ban plastic straws, Ameena decides to create her own petition to allow her and Zainab to celebrate Eid and manages to acquire numerous signatures. Zainab asks her former dance mate Litia if she can rejoin, claiming that she had to paint her room for the month, but she admits that she was let go because they thought her dancing was weak. Despite this, Ameena manages to get her signature after accidentally revealing the real reason why she was absent for a whole month. Zainab angrily confronts Ameena and demands that she drop the whole issue and grabs her petition and crumples it onto the floor. Ameena sadly tells Teni that she did not acquire the signatures because of how Zainab reacted which is overheard by her teacher Mrs. Stone. At night, it begins to rain and her tent falls apart.
In the morning, Ameena and Zainab are surprised to see that Mrs. Stone had put together an Eid themed party at school with the help of their parents and the class. However, Zainab is still embarrassed to take part and Ameena gives a speech as to what Eid means to her. She reveals that her main reason for celebrating Eid is because it is the one time where she gets to have fun with her sister and dance together. Realizing that this was all done for her, Zainab happily joins Ameena in dancing a traditional Eid dance for the class. Sometime later, Ameena attempts to fix her tent as Zainab comes outside to help her.
Cast[]
- Shanessa Khawaja as Ameena
- Jenna Qureshi as Zainab
- Cash Sterrera as Tony
- Fazeelat Aslam as Jamila
- Maya Bednarek as Rachel
- Iris Starlett Perry as Chelsea
- Hilary Ward as Mrs. Stone
- Irmail Bashey as Altaf
- Mikee Castillo as Litia
- Charlie Reddix as Teni
- Tyler David Alderson as Mike
- Raheela "Mama Jee" Mahmood as Dadi Ami
- Mark Anthony Williams as Art Teacher
- Barbara Bragg as Cafeteria Lady
- Karen Teliha as Janitor
- Su Jung Lee as Mrs. Tan
- Amber Duke as Litia's Friend
Trivia[]
- The short was initially announced as a stand-alone feature for Disney+ before being added to the Launchpad series.
- Ameena is shown to be a fan of Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American superhero. A year after the short premiered, the character would get her own television series.
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