Join the creative forces behind NBC’s newest hit “Transplant” for a conversation about the medical drama centered on a Syrian Muslim** doctor as he adjusts to his new life in Canada after fleeing his home country. Featuring stars Hamza Haq (“Dr. Bashir Hamed”), Ayisha Issa (“Dr. June Curtis”), executive producer/creator Joseph Kay, consulting producer Sami Khan and cultural consultant Dr. Khaled Almilaji, this insightful conversation—moderated by author and professor Dr. Evelyn Alsultany —will explore how the show approaches Muslim representation from a contemporary lens, the inspiration behind the series and the show’s portrayals of the struggles and triumphs of refugees. Opening remarks by Jennifer Morgan of ATX TV Festival and Sue Obeidi, MPAC’s Hollywood Bureau Director.
Meet the Panel
Hamza Haq:
Hamza Haq stars as Bashir “Bash” Hamed, the new ER doctor who fled his native Syria and must overcome numerous obstacles to resume his career in the high-stakes world of emergency medicine, in NBC’s drama “Transplant.”
Raised in Ottawa, Haq is the youngest of four siblings born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents and has called Canada home for almost 20 years.
His television credits include the CTV miniseries “Indian Detective,” opposite William Shatner, Russell Peters and Anupam Kher; the CBC Gem crime-drama miniseries “The 410”; and the CBC drama “This Life,” which garnered critical acclaim and earned him a 2018 Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Guest Performance.
He has had recurring roles on the Cinemax series “Jett,” starring Carla Gugino; “Quantico,” opposite Priyanka Chopra; and “The Art of More,” co-starring Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth. Other notable credits include “Designated Survivor,” “The Bold Type,” “Being Human,” “Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays” and “Best Laid Plans.” Haq also served as host of the TVOKids program “Look Kool.”
On the big screen, he’s held supporting roles in “Bon Cop Bad Cop 2,” with Colm Feore; “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan,” directed by Xavier Dolan; Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!”; “Run this Town,” opposite Mena Massoud and Nina Dobrev; and most recently, “My Salinger Year,” starring Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver.
In 2017, he was named one of Canada’s Rising Stars by the Hollywood Reporter. Haq holds a Bachelor of Arts in film studies with a minor in law from Carleton University.
Ayisha Issa:
Ayisha Issa stars as skilled surgical resident Dr. June Curtis, whose brutal honesty and deadpan wit may offend some, but underlies her fierce drive and determination at proving herself to become one of the hospitals elite surgeons, in NBC’s drama “Transplant.”
Issa is an award-winning, bilingual actress born and raised in Montreal. Her professional acting career started when her athletic background landed her a small role opposite Micky Rourke and Henry Cavill in the 2011 feature film “Immortals.” In 2018, she earned a Prix Gemeaux for her portrayal of Brittany Sizzla in the highly acclaimed French-Canadian series “Unite 9,” a role for which she was also nominated in 2017.
Her feature film credits include supporting roles in “Brick Mansions,” opposite the late Paul Walker; Netflix’s “Polar,” starring Mads Mikkelsen and Vanessa Hudgens, and “The Hummingbird Project,” co-starring Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgard and Salma Hayek.
On the small screen, Issa has had recurring roles on the Syfy series “Dark Matter,” “12 Monkeys” and the award-winning CBC comedy “Workin’ Moms.” She has also made her mark in video games as the fan-favorite playable character Fliss in “Mad of Medan,” with Shawn Ashmore, and as Jayma in “Far Cry Primal.”
Issa holds a Brazilian Top Team Brown Belt and is a two-time IBJJF World Champion.
When she is not on set, she continues to train and compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is founder of 4Points BJJ, where she combines her love of the sport with her affinity for youth development to help foster confidence, perseverance and other valuable qualities in kids and young adults.
Joseph Kay:
Joseph Kay is creator, showrunner and executive producer on the NBC drama “Transplant.” Prior to this show, he served as showrunner on the CBC drama “This Life.”
His previous credits include the historical epic “Frontier,” the World War II drama “Bomb Girls” for Global TV and CBC’s hit action/comedy “Republic of Doyle.” Kay also co-created the single-camera comedy “Living in Your Car” for HBO Canada.
Before becoming a screenwriter, Kay worked as a transactional lawyer at one of Canada’s foremost securities law firms.
Sami Khan:
Sami Khan is a consulting producer on the NBC medical drama “Transplant.”
Khan’s most recent film, “The Last Out,” with Michael Gassert, won a Special Jury Mention at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. His previous film, “St. Louis Superman,” with Smriti Mundhra, was nominated for a 2020 Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.
His work, in both fiction and documentary, has been supported by the Sundance and Tribeca Film Institutes, the Toronto Film Festival, Rooftop Films, IFP, the NBCUniversal Director’s Fellowship, and the Berlinale.
Dr. Khaled Almilaji:
Dr. Khaled Almilaji, M.S.M. MD. MHI. PMP is a Syrian doctor, humanitarian, public health expert, and health informatician. He has been based in Toronto, Canada since 2017.
He was not able to finish his medical residency program (ENT diseases, Head and Neck Surgery) in Syria. He has led multiple humanitarian initiatives in the Syrian crisis (2012-2019).
Almilaji moved to the United States in August 2016 to attend the Master of Public Health program at Brown University, but his studies were interrupted in January 2017 by the travel ban.
He was appointed to the Muslim-American Advisory Board for Providence City Council (term 2017-2019). He was also awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Queen of Canada in April 2017 for his humanitarian work in the Syrian crisis.
Dr. Evelyn Alsultany, Moderator
Evelyn Alsultany is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media. She is the author of Arabs and Muslim in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11 and has written, lectured, and consulted widely on the topic. She received a Ph.D. from Stanford University, taught at the University of Michigan for 13 years, and is currently an associate professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Recently she co-authored criteria, the Obeidi-Alsultany Test, to help Hollywood improve representations of Muslims. For more information see www.evelynalsultany.com.