Party Time

Mike Knight was sitting on the edge of a modern art deco-ish sofa next to his wife. Loud club music was blasting from the DJ spinning on the patio, and dim blue lights were illuminating all of us. We were at a party at the Sky Lodge, surrounded by pretty happy people.We nursed our non-alcoholic beverages, unable to talk to each other because of the loud music. Mike looked slightly out of place, with his Harvard grey beanie on his head and bulky jacket. Behind us stood girls with shiny leggings, and around us everyone looked like a fashionista. Ok, he looked really out of place. He’s not really the clubby type. Sadaf and I try to get him to move with the music, but the most we got was a back and forth of the head. “You know, back in 2002 when I wrote The Taqwacores, this is not where I pictured myself eight years later.” He shook his head in that “this is surreal” kind of way.

Noureen Dewulf joined us right at that moment. I leaned over to ask if her she was excited about the movie coming out. She responded enthusiastically, “Totally!”

“Is it your first time at Sundance?” I asked.

“It’s my second time,” she replied. “But this time, coming for The Taqwacores as Rabeya is huge. This is exciting. I haven’t seen the film yet. I can’t wait.”