WHEN ADIL EL ARBI STARTED FILM SCHOOL, HE
knew right away that he didn’t quite fit in. The son
of Moroccan market vendors in Belgium, attending
on a government scholarship, he felt adrift in the sea
of white middle-class faces. It was not only his roots
that were different but his cinematic heroes. While
others talked of their love of auteurs like Jean-Luc
Godard, El Arbi named Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee
and Oliver Stone as role models.
“JFK andPlatoon andNixon, these are political
movies, they were Hollywood movies, but still they
meant something,” he says. “[But] from the moment
that you try to do something a little bit more enter-
taining, then it’s like you are a sellout.”
The qualities that set El Arbi apart eventually led
to his success. He and fellow student Bilall Fallah,
who shared not only his background but his cine-
matic passions, started making movies that drew onCANADALILLY SINGH
The “superwoman” of comedy
For proof of just how creatively Lilly Singh can make a
point, look no further than “How to Make a Sandwich.”
The five-minute YouTube clip at first seems to be
a standard cooking tutorial, with Singh cheerfully
offering advice from behind a kitchen counter. Except
she’s talking directly to a commenter—who wrote that
“women aren’t funny” and asked why Singh wasn’t
“in the kitching [sic] making me a sandwich.” As the
sandwich is dressed, he gets dressed down. Try using
fresh vegetables “to make up for your expired thought
process.” When you’re cutting onions, “you’ll notice
[they have] layers—just like your insecurity.”
This is humor as Singh believes it should be: smart,
irreverent and unapologetically feminist. It has made
the 29-year-old Indian-Canadian a star on YouTube,
where her sketch-comedy videos—tackling everything
from relationships to racism—have logged more than
2 billion views and lured guests like Michelle Obama
and James Franco. Growing up as the daughter of
Punjabi immigrants, Singh says, “it was definitely
embedded into my upbringing, like, ‘Indian girls
shouldn’t do this’ or ‘Girls shouldn’t do that.’” Now
“Superwoman,” as she’s known to her fans, presides
over a multimillion-dollar brand, comprising live tours,
film and TV roles (she’s
slated to appear in
HBO’sFahrenheit 451)
and a best-selling
book.
Like any budding
comic, Singh has
her share of critics.
But none have
distracted her from
her larger goal of
empowering young
women—not just by
making them laugh
but by working with
groups like UNICEF
and the Malala
Fund to ensure
that they have
equal opportunity,
especially in
education. “If
I can have an
impact,” says
Singh, “it seems
like a waste not
to use it to have
some kind of
positive influence
on the planet.”
—Cady LangBELGIUMAdil El Arbi
THE SPIELBERG OF MOLENBEEKNEXT GENERATION LEADERS ▼
CHRIS MCPHERSON FOR TIME