Impossible Town
When her father dies unexpectedly, Dr. Ayne Amjad is thrust to the helm of a decades-long struggle to aid a southern West Virginia town beset by cancer-causing chemicals. Haunted by her late father’s mandate to help others at all costs, Ayne is caught between her goal of raising a family and an audacious but all-consuming plan to relocate the town and bring closure to her father’s work.
IMPOSSIBLE TOWN is a story of personal ambitions in conflict with deep familial obligations set against the backdrop of loss, grief, and environmental justice in rural Appalachia.
After the untimely death of Pakistani-born oncologist Hassan Amjad, his daughter Ayne seeks a definitive solution to her father’s unresolved dream of helping Minden, a former coal-company town polluted with carcinogenic PCBs. No stranger to audacious goals, Ayne hatches a plan to relocate Minden’s 250 residents to a plot of land purchased in the wake of her father’s passing.
When Ayne encounters resistance from the community, she takes her plans statewide, landing a high-profile role as WV’s State Health Officer in the early months of the pandemic. Ayne’s star rises as she spearheads a much-lauded vaccine rollout, but the demands of her new position make it all but impossible to pursue her goal of moving Minden and her personal dream of raising a family of her own.
In a last-ditch effort to finish her father’s work, Ayne dispatches her personal lawyer to launch a class-action lawsuit against industry titans, the proceeds from which may serve as Minden’s best hope of financing relocation. With personal and professional obligations mounting, Ayne must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to make good on her late father’s mandate to help others at all costs.
For screening opportunities, please reach out to:
Meg Griffiths – meg@universecreative.org