Edinburgh TV Festival: We Are Lady Parts star says the show has given ‘visibility’ to Muslim women

We Are Lady Parts star Faith Omole has told an audience at the Edinburgh TV Festival she is proud the show has given “visibility” to Muslim women.

The Channel 4 comedy, which aired earlier this year, follows a Muslim female punk band, called Lady Parts, as they try to find success.

The actress appeared at the Edinburgh TV Festival in an event hosted by presenter Tan France along with her fellow cast members and the show’s creator, Nida Manzoor.

Omole, who plays bassist and backing vocalist Bisma in the series, said: “We were proud to bring visibility to people.

“Looking at the world, I just think that stories are really what’s going to change mindsets and hearts for people and I think that more stories need to be told, and we are privileged that we got to tell Nida’s and we got to bring that one to light.

“I’m just immensely proud of it, I watch it and I think, ‘This is joy, this is what should be going out into the world’.”

France added: “I know I sound like a completely crazy fan girl, but it was so beautifully done, it really was.

“I was wildly impressed that it wasn’t just one specific version of what the audience would assume is the Muslim community.

We Are Lady Parts actresses - from left Lucie Shorthouse (Momtaz), Faith Omole (Bisma), Anjana Vasan (Amina), Juliette Motamed (Ayesha), Sarah Impey (Saira).

“There was so much diversity within this group.”

Manzoor said she felt it was “important” to show “all the different ways of being a Muslim woman”, she said: “The detail of who you are and your culture and the specificities of the family dynamics are so unique, so I was just wanting to show some variation.”

The discussion, which was streamed online, took place on the first day of the Edinburgh TV Festival which is running until August 26.

Juliette Motamed who plays Ayesha in We Are Lady Parts.

It will feature appearances from Hollywood star and Hamilton writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Greta Thunberg and Whoopi Goldberg.

Comedian Sir Billy Connolly is being honoured with a lifetime achievement award as part of this year’s festival.

He is being given the award for his contribution to the television industry and will be interviewed by his wife, the writer and performer Dr Pamela Stephenson Connolly, as he reflects on his work.

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