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30 Apr
Sat, Apr 30, 2022 at 5:00 pm PT

Description

When three teenage girlfriends, wearing burkas and hijabs, make a home music video to R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” and someone shares the film online, their moment of uninhibited camaraderie becomes a viral sensation. Of the trio, only Kurdish immigrant Yesmin is Muslim, and the garments her friends wore belonged to her family; the video engenders an unexpected reaction from her kin and conservative community. As the young women seize on their sudden fame to become an entertainment act around Vienna, Yesmin must contend with her own ideology, religious beliefs, and sense of belonging as a first-generation immigrant, while her friends become enthralled with her culture. This poetic film captures the highs and lows of adolescence while questioning the concept of homeland.

Director Kurdwin Ayub

Iraq-born, based in Vienna, Austria, director, screenwriter, and video and performance artist Kurdwin Ayub studied painting and animation at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna and performing arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She’s made one documentary, Paradise! Paradise! (2016), and several short films that include Sexy (2013) and Boomerang (2018), winner of the Max Ophüls Preis at the Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival. Sonne (2022), her feature debut, won the GWFF Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Film Details

LanguageGerman, Kurdish

Year2022

Runtime88

CountryAustria

DirectorKurdwin Ayub

ProducerGeorg Aschauer, Veronika Franz, Ulrich Seidl

WriterKurdwin Ayub

EditorRoland Stöttinger

CinematographerEnzo Brandner

CastMelina Benli, Law Wallner, Maya Wopienka

Closed CaptionsClosed captions are not available for this screening.

Audio DescriptionAudio description is not available for this screening.

American Sign Language (ASL) InterpretationAmerican Sign Language (ASL) interpretation is not currently scheduled for this event. For more information about ASL interpretation at our events, e-mail ADA@SFFilm.org.