Name: Zubaidah Khalilah Waajid

Recipient Year: 2017|2015

Sponsor: MSA West Scholarship|Islamic Institute of Orange County (IIOC) Scholarship

Description: One of the first experiences that molded Z.Khalilah as a filmmaker was her undergraduate documentary entitled Into The Mirror. Through this experience, Z.Khalilah has been inspired to keep honesty at the forefront of her films.Her aesthetic influences and creative interests are shaped by two distinct factors: atmosphere and the people within that given atmosphere. While attaining her BA, Z. Khalilah learned about the struggles of undocumented youth in Atlanta and their unheard voices. As a result this motivated her future project Andrés’s Crossing, a narrative based on a boy’s illegal border crossing through Arizona’s Sonora desert. She was accepted into one of the nation’s top film schools, Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television in Los Angeles. Her documentary, Undiscovered Princess, explores the importance of cultural and self-identity for a child.