Suffering Is Optional
As of June 23, 2026, Suffering Is Optional is a feature film that is in pre-production. Five production companies are attached, including Telefilm Canada, CityLights Media and LBG Films. Attached are director Zarrar Kahn; executive producers Kaleem Aftab and Karen Harnisch; and producers Anam Abbas, Julie Groleau and 1 other. It is scheduled to start shooting in Hamilton, ON and Montreal, QC in January 2027. Production List last updated this listing on June 23, 2026.
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Project Summary
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.
Production Contacts— Members Only
The production office and crew contacts for Suffering Is Optional are on file at Production List, last updated June 23, 2026, and are available to members. Membership is $29.95 for the first month.
Cast & Crew
Directing
| Director | Zarrar Kahn |
Writing
| Writer | Zarrar Kahn |
Production
| Producer | Anam Abbas |
| Producer | Julie Groleau |
| Executive Producer | Kaleem Aftab |
| Producer | Lindsay Blair Goeldner |
| Executive Producer | Karen Harnisch |
Contact details for each person listed are on file and available to members.
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Working on Suffering Is Optional
Suffering Is Optional is in pre-production, which is when a production hires its crew: department heads first, then each department. How productions hire crew · Working as an extra · Reaching the production office
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Source: Production List, published by the Film & Television Industry Alliance. Cite this page as https://www.productionlist.com/production/suffering-is-optional (last updated Jun 23, 2026).