'Those people' talk back in Fawzia Mirza's films

Not Muslim enough. Not Pakistani enough. Not lesbian enough. Fawzia Mirza got sick of other people defining her personal layers and limiting her acting roles. So she started making her own.

"We shouldn't wait for someone to tell us who we can be," says Mirza, the brains behind two short films — Spunkle and The First Session — at Toronto's Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. 

Mirza joins Shad to discuss the disappointingly flat depictions of "those people," whether their race, ethnicity or sexuality trumps their character development, and why the process of "coming out" is lifelong for those who aren't part of the presumed norm. 

She also shares some great stories about growing up as the "awkward and weird and brown" kid who wanted nothing more than a beige baloney sandwich. 

WEB EXTRA | Watch the trailers for Mirza's recent films below.