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Tag: arabamerican

Episode 186 [in English]: Layla EO

Layla EO is a Jordanian-American artist, self taught illustrator, and overall creative, raised in Texas, currently living in Chicago, offering a more vibrant take on the world. 

Layla talks about using her bold color palette as an alternative to the infamous yellow filter usually used to portray our home countries in Hollywood. Many of her illustrations feature queer, SWANA, and other POC subjects, allowing a wide range of people to imagine themselves through a lens of joy and beauty.

As Layla discusses her love for drag, we all recount our own dabblings as drag kings and queens. We also talk about the queer and SWANA subculture scenes in different cities, and how Americans continue to be confused about geography.

https://laylaeo.wixsite.com/artist

http://instagram.com/laylaeo

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Episode 178 [in English]: The return of Rolla Selbak!

Rolla Selbak is a Palestinian-American filmmaker, writer, and director whose work has pushed boundaries of representation for Arab, Muslim, and queer characters. We were so excited to have her back to catch up since her first episode, right at the beginning of the pandemic.

Rolla’s recent projects include the short film “Finjan” (which you can watch online now) and “Ya Bint”, a dramedy TV series co-created with Dina Shihabi (currently in the works).

Rolla discussed the new experience of writing for a producer’s studio after working in the indie scene and adapting to expectations about what mainstream audiences might want to see. We also talked about Rolla’s recent wedding, ad targeting and censorship on social media, how we watch forms of art that we work in, Carol Baskin and more!

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1672060/

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