Sisters, Mothers, Friends, Lovers: A Collection of Shorts
+Shorts Collection
Sunday, 9/29
12:30 p.m.
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SISTERS, MOTHERS, FRIENDS, LOVERS: A COLLECTION OF SHORTS
Five short films that dive into the hearts of our deepest relationships.
Cycle of Apples
دورة التفاح
Maha Al-Saati
Short
15 mins | 2019
Saudi Arabia, Canada
Arabic with English subtitles
On an island inhabited only by women, a young girl forms a friendship with a ram. Fearing that death will keep them apart, she seeks the apple of eternal life.
Maha Al-Saati is an independent filmmaker interested in exploring the fantastical intersection of religion and culture in her films. Her films explore femininity, gender, and struggles surrounding women in the Arabian Peninsula. Her last short film Hair: The Story of Grass (2018), explores societal attitudes towards beauty standards and body hair, as well as the culture of oppression towards the intellectually challenged. The film was an official selection of HollyShorts 2019, Slamdance 2019, Fantastic Fest 2018.
*****
Moderately Satisfied
استبيان
Hind Anabtawi
Short
13 mins | 2018
UAE
Arabic with English subtitles
Minnesota premiere
While visiting her terminally ill mother for the first time in months, an estranged daughter finds new answers about their relationship, while filling out a patient satisfaction survey. For the first time, the two finally meet halfway.
Festivals and Awards:
Best Narrative Film, Arab Film Studio Awards, UAE, 2018
Capital City Film Festival, US, 2019
Hind Anabtawi is a Jordanian Palestinian filmmaker based in Dubai. Her Arab Film Studio production Moderately Satisfied is her second directorial experience after her debut film Sama (2017) which premiered at the 2018 Malmö Arab Film Festival.
*****
Nocturnal Deconstruction
طلعت الشمس
Laura El-Alam
Short
16 mins / 2018
Lebanon
Arabic with English Subtitles
MN Premiere
The pharmaceutical industry creates Trupan, a medicine that resolves self-esteem issues and allows each person who takes it, to love themselves again. When Sonia takes her first dose of Trupan, Samar, a projection of Sonia’s self-esteem, appears. Thanks to Samar, Sonia falls in love with this adventure, this woman, and herself.
Festivals and Awards:
Audience Awards LGBTQ Shorts Film Festival, USA, 2019
Laura El-Alam was born in 1995 in London. Because of her Lebanese background, she moved back with her family at the age of five. She studied film and audiovisual studies at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, and later obtained a master’s degree in Cinema Directing from the same university. She now lives in Berlin and works at RISE Visual Effects Studios.
*****
Mum
لم أعد أكتم
Mariam Al Awadhi
Short
10 mins | 2018
UAE
Arabic with English subtitles
MN premiere
After fifteen years of avoiding the source of her anxiety, Mariam at last walks the journey of voicing her emotions regarding her non-Emirati mother, and the uneasiness she felt about her mixed background in the Emirati society.
Festivals and Awards:
Best Documentary Film, Arab Film Studio Awards, UAE, 2018
Best International Film Award, Georgia Documentary Film Festival, US, 2019
Oregon Documentary Film Festival, US, 2019
The D.C. Independent Film Festival, US, 2019
Mariam Al Awadhi is a young emerging filmmaker who aspires to shed light on gripping stories of humankind in the Arab region and present it to the world with her own flair.
*****
Brothers
Mike Mosallam
Short
8 mins | 2018
US
English
Minnesota premiere
A Muslim Arab boy realizes he is different and is fortunate to have an older brother who encourages him to be himself in the face of bias and adversity. Brothers sheds light on LGBT-oppression in a familial, religious space.
Festivals and Awards:
Best Short, Viewers’ Choice Award, Reel Out Charlotte Film Festival, US, 2019
Leeds Queer Film Festival, UK, 2019
Beirut International Film Festival, Lebanon, 2018
Mike Mosallam is a producer, director, and writer for theater, film, and television. Through his production company, he and his team have produced the short films Breaking Fast, Brothers, and Ubuntu. Mosallam is the creator of the critically acclaimed TLC series, All-American Muslim, and has produced and directed more than a hundred theatrical productions. He is currently working on his feature film, Breaking Fast (based on his earlier short), set for completion in late 2019.
***
Jebel Banat
جبل بنات
Sharine Atif
Short
15 mins | 2018
Egypt
Arabic with English subtitles
Minnesota premiere
The retelling of a melancholic 19th century Egyptian legend about two Bedouin sisters escaping forced marriages.
Festivals and Awards:
Jury Special Mention Award, Shnit Worldwide Short Film Festival, Egypt, 2018
Student Visionary Award, Tribeca Film Festival, US, 2019
Best Movie Award, Africajarc Film Festival, France, 2019
Sharine Atif is an Egyptian American filmmaker living between Cairo and New York and a graduate from CalArts in 2017 with an MFA in film directing. As an independent filmmaker, Sharine experiments with different strategies to learn how best to create change through cinema, by using confrontation, humor, subtlety, tenderness, or aggression, with the aim to empower women.
