Diane Guerrero & Akbar Hamid Talk Queer Muslim Joy, Identity & ‘PORELESS’ at Inside Out & Tribeca | Pride Month Special
In celebration of Pride Month, we sat down with Diane Guerrero and Akbar Hamid to talk about their bold new short film PORELESS, premiering at Inside Out Toronto and Tribeca 2025. In this exclusive interview, the duo opens up about queer Muslim joy, identity, authenticity in the beauty world, and reclaiming space in media. Get ready for laughter, truth, and a powerful reminder that joy is resistance.
TEM (The Extra Mile) : Akbar, you know, you had such an incredible career, I feel like building, culture from behind the screens. So I’m curious, what made this the moment to step into the spotlight and bring your story to the screen?And how did Diane come on board?
Akbar: Yeah, oh my God, such a good, both good questions. Well, I’ve been storytelling almost two decades, you know, for brands. And I think, you know, I talked a lot about, I think storytelling was an expression for me, I wanted to, I really wanted to pursue this acting and more creative art form when I was young and growing up in Pakistan until I moved. The U.S. really wasn’t something that was encouraged. And so, you know, I think my creative expression went into storytelling for other people and brands. And, you I built this incredible career doing that. And as I met Fawzia Mirza, when her feature was coming out, Queen of My Dreams, we connected and became really close. And I shared, you know, as you do when you really connect with somebody, shared all my dreams of wanting to storytell on screen. And she said, let’s do it. And, you know, such an incredible mentor and connected me to some great acting coaches and really developed the script and story with Harris Duran around me and really inspired by my real life, but in a more fun and imaginative way. And I think what was special about doing this as my first film project is it is really all about expressing identity and reclaiming your identity, right? So for me growing up, I sort of rejected my Muslim and AAPI identity because I felt that that rejected me. And then as I… So gotten older and reconnected with that, I realized that I can be all those identities at the same time. And I don’t have to reject any of them. You know, we can all be whoever and whatever we want to be and we identify with and nobody makes the rules. We make our own rules. So it felt like a really beautiful way to have an onscreen debut and sharing a story that hopefully has people watching and leaving feeling connected or inspired or wanting to reconnect with anyone in their life or their identity or who they are. So it was a really special way to do it. And Diane came into the picture because she was such a special human being. And we actually, a few years ago in Paris, were joking and chatting about maybe one day, you we’re to do something together soon.A nd when this script came to me from Fawzia and Harris, I immediately thought of her as the bestie in the role. And she was so gracious to come on board and I’ll let her speak to it, too, and do the film with me. It really was such an incredible support.
Diane: Yes. Well, first of all, I mean, I’m so honored to be part of this film. And I am such a huge advocate for people embracing all of the different sides of themselves. So like, let’s say you’ve been doing, you know, one career, or you, you know, you’ve been focused on one thing for a long time, and then, you know, something speaks to you, or you, you have a dream that you’ve had for a long time, and then you decide to experiment and find yourself in that. I’m a huge advocate for that. And so when Akbar told me about some of his dreams, I identify because that’s exactly how I feel about so many things that I’m interested in. And I thought that was so brave. And I go, you know, let me in on whatever you got going on. I’m down to support. I’m down to support this community, what the subject matter is about. Akbar is a lovely, lovely person, always includes me in such wonderful and magical things. And so, I mean, it was an easy yes. And I’m We’ll continue supporting storytelling like this till the day I die. I’m into it. I, I love working with, with great people. And, and this was such a great set to work on.
TEM:The one thing that really stuck out for me, um, in the, in the film was, uh, Ruby says something, um, that kind of stuck with me. She says you can’t sell a product without, uh, about being yourself. you’re not being yourself. I just kind of love to hear your thoughts. How do you personally navigate that, tension between like, let’s say performance and authenticity, especially in an industry that expects both.
Diane: Well, authenticity, sorry. Um, authenticity is the highest form, like, like the most energetic out of like everything, right? It’s like the highest one. And like, it is what everyone expects from you, but it is kind of something that people often reject. And so it’s like, how do we navigate that world when like, people are telling you that this is what they want. But really, when you show them that your true self, it’s often met with pushback. So, I mean, that’s kind of what I’ve been striving for my entire life. It’s like, what, who, who am I, you know, what is my authentic self and I try to, I guess I’m, I’m trying to reach that every day that I wake up, every day that I approach a new project or a new art form. It’s like, it’s my life’s mission to be my most authentic self. And I think that we need more storytelling like this. We need more films like this to ask these questions of folks. When we find ourselves doing things that we don’t want to do, or we’re following a trend, or we’re just trying to appease what, you know, people expect of you. It’s always important to reach down inside. And listen to your gut and listen to what, what it is that you want to do and stay curious about what it is you connect with.
TEM: What do you both kind of feel that this hope that this film says about who gets to be seen, heard and celebrated in beauty and media going forward?
Akbar: Yeah, I think, you know, we all know this sort of social media culture we live in and how everybody’s obsessed with consuming and looking, you know, as good as possible and and constantly trying to better themselves. And I think I hope people realize that they’re perfect as they are. And and if you are trying to improve yourself in any way, you should come from a place of knowing that you’re already whole and anything you want to do after that, that’s up to you. But you should know that even without that, you’re complete. And I think what was really important about this film, too, is it’s centered a queer Muslim. Let’s started. AAPI story, not around like a trauma driven narrative or something about coming out or dealing with, you know, parents that might reject you was just about somebody living in a real life situation and having a real life, you know, moment of allergic reaction it was funny and humorous. And what was really, what’s been really beautiful to see at the few festivals we’ve done is everybody laughing at the film together, all different communities, ages, races, orientations. And I think that’s what’s really important is we all need to laugh with each other as communities rather than at each other. And that’s when we can really heal and connect through comedy. So I hope people just walk away feeling refreshed, inspired, renewed and whole and know that they belong no matter what.
Diane: Yeah, I feel like we we are allowed to tell all different stories about ourselves and who we are. And in order for people to accept our narrative, it doesn’t have to be. Based on struggle and stress, we are allowed to tell joyous moments of ourselves. We are a multitude of things. And joy, I think, is like the biggest one of them. We’re such a beautiful people and it’s time, it’s time, it’s been time, it’s always been happening. We’ve always been celebrating who we are. And I love seeing it on screen.
TEM: So if you had to pitch, let’s say yourself, Shark Tank style, kind of like Akram does in the film, what’s your tagline?
Akbar: Oh my gosh.
Diane: That’s hard hitting questions. I am not ready. Go ahead, you go first.
Akbar: Oh my gosh, I’m like also thinking. I feel like a fun tagline, because I launched a podcast recently to the safety podcast and the tagline, it came up. Um. It’s where the tea is hot, but healing is hotter.
Diane: I can’t, I can’t. All I get in my mind right now is, I don’t know, sunshine and moonbeams. I mean, that’s kind of like where I want to live. That’s my tagline. I love it. I mean, I feel like, you know, it’s what suits you, right? It’s what suits me.
TEM: We’re all about going the Extra mile. So whether that be in your personal life, business, or whatever, how do you each one of you guys go the extra mile?
Akbar: Yeah, I mean, I think for me, it is at least sort of, you know, we’re always growing every day, so we’ve never really achieved. you. I think, for me at least, ever the ultimate success or ultimate authenticity. But I think at a point where I really want to give back and help in any way I can, that doesn’t have to be monetarily. It can be my time with mentoring. So I think for me, it’s really lifting up community, you know, around me or people that maybe are like me struggling with the same sort of things. So I think that would be it for me.
Diane: Yeah, I would say, continue to kick fear in the butt, right? I mean, fear exists. And it is a, just like any kind of storytelling, right? Fear is also a narrative, right, that we have inside us because of, obviously, there are very scary things going on in the world. But just like we have that, we have truth. And the truth is, truth. That you can overcome just about anything. And you can rewrite that story of fear into something that positive, where you can try something new, where you can get up in the morning and try your best and feel good about that. So I think right now, that’s kind of like what has been surrounding me. It’s just tackling challenges and facing them head on and not being avoidant and going through it. You can’t go around it. And so, yeah, I say changing that fear narrative into a positive one and say, yes, I can. I can do it.
Watch the trailer for PORELESS below
PORELESS premiered at the Inside Out Festival in Toronto on May 28th and will make its U.S. premiere at Tribeca on June 7th.
Tickets can be purchased here