‘Hala’ Trailer Charts Pakistani Teen’s Coming of Age Story in Apple TV+ Film (Video)

Drama executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith debuts on Apple’s streaming service on Dec. 6

Meet Hala, a Pakistani American teenager who loves skateboarding and finds herself grappling with her parents’ strict cultural and religious upbringing.

Her coming of age story is unveiled in the first trailer for “Hala,” which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and played at TIFF but is now set to debut on Apple TV+ beginning on Dec. 6.

Minhal Baig wrote and directed the drama that stars “Blockers” star Geraldine Viswanathan as Hala. She’s a 17-year-old Pakistani American teenager who struggles to balance desire with her familial, cultural and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.

“You said that I could tell you if something’s going on,” Hala asks in the trailer. “Something’s going on.”

Jada Pinkett Smith is an executive producer on “Hala,” which also stars Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Anna Chlumsky, Purbi Joshi and Azad Khan. Clarence Hammond, Jamal Watson, and Baig are the film’s producers.

“Hala” was also notable at Sundance for utilizing an inclusion rider during the film’s production, meaning that 75 percent of the below-the-line roles on the film were held by women, and many more were hired as department heads.

“Hala” is also the last of three original films that Apple had earlier slated for release. The first was the documentary “The Elephant Queen,” which is already available on Apple TV+ when the service launched on Nov. 1. And on Monday, the company unveiled “The Banker,” starring Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson in an original drama during the segregation era. That film has yet to make its premiere and will do so as the closing night film at the upcoming AFI Film Festival.

“Hala” though will get a limited theatrical release starting Nov. 22 before debuting for streaming on Apple TV+ on Dec. 6. Watch the first trailer for the film above.

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