Lesbian Romance ‘Maya & Samar’ Lands Distribution Deal Despite NC-17 Rating
Here’s when and where to watch it.
Last fall, Maya & Samar director Anita Doran was outraged to learn her lesbian romance film had been slapped with an NC-17 rating. “The fact that we got an NC-17 rating, even though this film is a love story, but many other films — where it’s not a queer love story — [don’t] get an NC-17 rating, was…shocking,” Doron told Variety.
The film follows Maya (Nicolette Pearse), a Canadian journalist who embarks on a passionate romance with queer Afghan woman Samar (Amanda Babaei Vieira) following a harrowing escape from the Taliban, whom she meets in Athens.
While the film may be steamy, for Doran, telling this story, in this way was the fulfillment of a dream for the filmmaker. “Ever since I started making films, I’ve been waiting and dying to tell stories where female sexuality is not a decoration or titillation for the audiences, but it’s a story from within the experience and the characters,” Doron said at the time. “[Maya and Samar’s love] is chaotic and poetic and it’s alive.”
The issue with the NC-17 rating, in addition to the unfair double standard that puts films which include queer sex at risk of being seen as more explicit, is that it can severely limit the film’s ability to secure distribution or a theatrical release.
The film made its premiere at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and went on to make its theatrical debut in March 2026 across Canada. The question of whether or not Maya & Samar would ever see the light of day in the U.S. has at last been answered. Today, it was announced that the film has been picked up for U.S. digital release by Quiver on VOD platforms across the U.S. on September 4, 2026.
“I hope Maya & Samar reaches into the wildest parts of your heart and connects you across time, place, culture, and identity into a humanist oneness,” Doron said. “I hope our film deranges you, like a cinematic tarot card, letting you feel.”
Maya & Samar arrives on VOD on September 4. Check out the trailer below.
