Suffering Is Optional

Suffering Is Optional is a Canadian climate thriller written and directed by Zarrar Kahn, whose debut feature In Flames premiered at Cannes 2023 and was Pakistan's official submission for the Academy Awards. The film stars Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel) as Noor Rahman, a drama student cast in her school's production of Hamlet who finds herself torn between artistic ambition and institutional abuse while being haunted by visions carrying warnings about climate catastrophe. The project is a co-production between CityLights Media, LBG Films, Other Memory Media, and Couronne Nord, with financing from Telefilm Canada. Producers include Lindsay Blair Goeldner, Anam Abbas, and Julie Groleau, with Karen Harnisch and Kaleem Aftab executive producing. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in early 2027, shooting in Hamilton and Montreal. Kahn developed the script drawing from firsthand accounts of climate disaster survivors, exploring themes of power, coming-of-age, campus culture wars, and climate grief.