Aneri Shah’s directorial debut I’m Doing My Job follows six female emergency physicians as they fight COVID-19 while raising kids, navigating family pressure and staying true to themselves. The 50-minute documentary premieres October 12 on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Vimeo On Demand, with Tubi and other streaming services coming later this fall.
Shah’s Cousin And The Origin Of The Film
Shah’s cousin, an ER doctor in Brooklyn who had just come back from maternity leave, approached her with a serious question during a surge in COVID cases: whether Shah would take care of her newborn son should something happen to her and her husband. That request came in 2020, and it prompted Shah to begin recording their everyday conversations. Over time, those recordings turned into a short video, which circulated widely across South Asian community WhatsApp groups, each holding hundreds to thousands of members.
Shah was contacted by other women doctors who shared their own experiences, which prompted her to extend the project into a full-length documentary.
The Six Doctors At The Center Of The Film
Dr. Shivani Mody, Dr. Ameera Haamid, Dr. Shazia Sohrawardy, Dr. Sabena Vaswani, Dr. Smruti Desai and Dr. Humaira Ali form the core cast of the film. The story follows their lives across two settings: the emergency room and their homes. It tracks how they manage their duties as doctors alongside their roles as mothers, daughters and members of immigrant and multicultural families.
The trailer quotes one doctor saying “I feel like I went to work every day thinking, ‘Dang, am I gonna die? Am I going to work and die?'”, while another doctor is quoted as saying “I felt so anxious I almost puked. I’ve never felt that way going to work before.”.
Shah’s Statement On Why She Made The Film
“I made this film because, for the first time, I got to speak to South Asian and Black women about their deepest fears, hopes and vulnerabilities and watch them surrender and just ‘be,'” Shah said in a statement. “I love these stories. I love these women. This film is my love letter to them.”
The Distribution Deal With Monkey Wrench Films
The film is distributed by Monkey Wrench Films, with Tom Putnam, SVP of Distribution at the company, saying “I’ve spent a lot of the past decade making films about first responders. When I saw I’m Doing My Job, I felt Aneri had captured something we hadn’t seen enough of during COVID: what these women were carrying at work and at home. I wanted to help get their stories in front of as big an audience as possible.”.
The Creative Team Behind The Documentary
Shah has Matthew Mills of Spacestation serving as executive producer on the project. Sharika Ajaikumar and Kopal Goyal edited the film, while Erika Kramer shot it as director of photography. The score was composed by Priya Darshini, a Grammy-nominated musician, and includes performances from Max ZT on hammered dulcimer, Moto Fukushima on bass and Grammy-nominated cellist Dave Eggar. That soundtrack is expected to be released separately after the film.
Shah’s Director’s Statement On Identity And Storytelling
“When crisis strikes, people reveal their truest selves,” Shah writes in a director’s statement. “Watching women of color and daughters of immigrants revel in their multitudes and show what an empathic leader looks like is the therapy I didn’t know I needed. It is profound that we never mention that all the subjects are women of color. I believe true progress is when we can take universal stories and have race, ethnicity, and gender as the multi-layered backdrop rather than main stage.”
“I believe true progress is when we can take universal stories and have race, ethnicity, and gender as the multi-layered backdrop rather than main stage.”
The Trailer And Where To Watch
Now viewers can watch the trailer. It has reached a broad audience across several platforms, with Tubi and other services set to join later this fall.
The film’s power comes from its truthfulness. The doctors here aren’t presented as idealized figures; instead, they’re shown as tired, afraid, and still doing their jobs regardless. It’s that blend — terror, weariness and persistent duty — that gives the movie its force.
The affection Shah feels for these women comes through in every shot, while the platform partnership ensures their stories can travel far beyond the communities that first told them.
The film premieres October 12.
See the video the story is built around at Deadline.
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