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My Favorite Fabric
+US Premiere
+Syrian Interest
Friday, 9/28
9:40 p.m.
Buy tickets >>>
Warning: This segment contains sexually explicit content and violence.
RUPTURE / رابتشر
Yassmina Karajah
narrative short
18 mins / 2017
Jordan / Canada
Arabic with English subtitles
Minnesota premiere
Rupture follows the journey of four Syrian teens on their quest to find the public pool in their new Canadian city on a hot summer’s day. Introducing a cast of first-time actors and survivors of war, the film channels their personal experiences of loss and new beginnings through a fictional narrative.
Festivals and Awards:
Narrative Shorts Grand Jury Prize, Slamdance, US, 2018
Best Short Drama, Leo Awards, Canada, 2018
Toronto International Film Festival, Canada, 2017
Yassmina Karajah is a Jordanian Palestinian filmmaker residing in Canada. Her short film Light (2014) screened at TIFF, AFI Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, and the Melbourne International Film Festival. Karajah creates character-driven films that challenge dominant social narratives and explore diasporic voices and stories. She is a recent graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors’ Lab and is currently developing her first feature film.
MY FAVORITE FABRIC
Gaya Jiji
narrative feature
95 mins / 2018
France / Germany / Turkey
Arabic with English subtitles
US Premiere
Festivals and Awards:
La Rochelle International Film Festival, France, 2018
Festival des Cinémas Arabes, France, 2018
Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival, 2018
Set in Damascus in the spring of 2011, amidst the rumblings of revolution, this complex narrative takes on issues of sexuality and gender inequality. Nahla (Manal Issa) explores her own sexual desires and navigates the social norms that structure women’s roles in society. Meanwhile, the Syrian revolution gains momentum and the state’s severe response engulfs the country in war. Against this violent backdrop, Nahla focuses on emigration and her arranged marriage to Syrian American Samir (Saad Lostan). But when Samir chooses her younger sister (Mariah Tannoury), Nahla grows closer to her new neighbor, who has just moved into her building and opened a brothel in the apartment upstairs. As Nahla plays out her fantasies in dreams and reality, the film critiques gender stereotypes, providing a unique metaphor for Syria’s increasing instability.
Gaya Jiji is a Syrian filmmaker who has been based in Paris since 2012. She has made several short films, including Matin, Midi, Soir . . . et Matin (2011), which garnered nominations at several global festivals. In 2016, she received a Festival de Cannes and Kerig Women in Motion: Young Talent award. My Favorite Fabric is her first feature-length film.
