Taking place over the course of one day, Naz (Kerwin Johnson, Jr in his feature film debut) and Maalik (Curtiss Cook Jr, also in his feature film debut) are devout , black, Muslim teenage boys in post-9/11 Brooklyn.

They’re also secretly a couple. Hiding their forbidden relationship from friends and family proves difficult, especially after Naz’s sister finds a used condom in his bedroom garbage pail. They have to be even more careful in public while they spend the day buying and reselling lottery tickets and perfumes to make extra money.

Their secrecy, however, draws unwanted attention from racist and islamophobic FBI agents who shadow them all day long, waiting for them to incriminate themselves. The boys have to find a way to balance loyalty to their families, their religion, and to one another.

NAZ & MAALIK is writer and director Jay Dockendorf’s first narrative feature, and his documentary experience shows through in the film’s stark realism, which won the Tribeca Film Institute’s IWC Film Filmmaker Award.