Today, we are extremely excited to introduce our two newest staff members, Alisha Mughal and Veronica Phillips! These two are talented writers who will be working closely together with our editorial team to provide weekly newsletters for our Substack, but how about we let them introduce themselves:
My name is Alisha Mughal and I'm a writer and journalist based in Toronto, Canada. Movies have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember — the love began with Bollywood films and then expanded, never-ceasing growth as it took in films from the world over. As a teen, I would dedicate night after night to running through the filmography of actors I'd recently fallen in love with, memorising their mannerisms and faces, their lines in the films of theirs that stuck with me. (I can recite all of Keira Knightley's lines in The Duchess, and I'm not sure if this is something to be embarrassed about or proud of.) In recent years, though, I've been struggling with a lot of depression and anxiety and I tend to get caught and lost in my mind, which makes it difficult for me to sit through movies and shows sometimes. It's for this reason that I've developed a deep appreciation and love for movies that bring me back into my body, that take my breath away, that remind me to be human; it's this humanness that I look for in many of the things that I watch, and I love to write about it, too. I love interrogating why we, culturally, love the movies that we do, because we're as much a part of our beloved movies as their cast and crew. The opportunity to be a staff writer for the Film Daze newsletter is a dream-come-true moment, one that has me incredibly excited to watch and re-watch some of the movies that made us and find the history that produced them, but also look into what makes them endlessly watchable, the humanness (whether good, bad, or ugly) that beats at their core. I can't wait to take this journey with all of you to celebrate our love for film.
Hi! I’m Veronica Phillips, and I am so, so excited to be working with Film Daze! I’m a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Cinema Studies Program and now based in Los Angeles. The two spaces I feel most mindful of are when I’m getting my acrylic nails refilled or sitting in a quiet movie theater. If it’s deemed “film bro” or “red flag” (Scorsese, stoner TV, sex comedies), or ridiculous and campy (John Waters, gory horror, “chick flicks), I probably like it (but hopefully in an aware, critical, and fun way). I have a tendency to get into cinematic cultural fads months or years too late, and then care about them far too much. I believe that each of our unique lived experiences affects how we watch what we watch, in wonderful and diverse ways. I’m so excited to write about what I love and explore perspectives (both agreeing and differing!) with this Film Daze community!