SONNE
Genre
Drama
Running time
88 minutes
Year
2022
Language
German and Kurdish
Subtitle
English
Country
Austria
Director
Kurdwin Ayub
Bio
Producer
Georg Aschauer, Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz
Cast
Melina Benli, Law Wallner, Maya Wopienka
Scriptwriter
Kurdwin Ayub
Kurdish Austrian Yesmin (Melina Benli) isn’t especially religious, but she wears a hijab in public. At home, she has no problem filming her best friends Bella (Law Wallner) and Nati (Maya Wopienka) twerking in her mother’s prayer garments for TikTok. When they suddenly go viral – with a rendition of REM’s Losing My Religion - Yesmin’s habitually disagreeable mom Awini (Awini Barwari) is aghast. By contrast, her father, Omar (Omar Ayub), proudly shows the clip to all his friends. Soon the girls are being asked to perform in costume at Kurdish parties, an exotic adventure for Yesmin’s friends but disquieting for Yesmin’s already shaky teenage sense of self. Drawing on her own life, Kurdwin Ayub uses the melange of traditional and immigrant cultures as background to a story about the pressures of a life lived on social media. An extraordinary coming-of-age story about being a young Muslim in Europe that will make you laugh, cry and sing.
Other movies
KOKUHO
Director: Lee Sang-Il
A box-office hit in Japan, Kokuho is Lee Sang-il’s long-gestating passion project, born from a 15-year fascination with kabuki and the tradition of onnagata: male actors who play female roles on stage. Adapted from a novel by Shūichi Yoshida, the story begins in 1964 Nagasaki and unfolds over five decades, tracing the bond between Kikuo — taken in by a kabuki master after his father’s death — and the master’s son, Shunsuke. Part brotherhood, part rivalry, their connection fuels a sweeping saga of ambition, sacrifice and devotion within a revered theatrical lineage. Starring Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama, Kokuho is visually sumptuous and emotionally resonant — a powerful meditation on legacy, identity and the high cost of artistic greatness.
MY FATHER'S SCENT
Director: Mohamed Siam
A tense, poetic odyssey unfolds over one night as a father and son confront each other, aiming to settle old scores. Confined to a single apartment, their raw, emotional confrontation quickly escalates, peeling back layers of a fraught relationship. This gripping family drama forces a poignant reflection: if granted one final night with a lost loved one, would you seek vengeance or reconciliation? With powerful performances, the film is a sensitive, intimate and profound exploration of the complex, enduring bond between father and son.
NIGHTTIME SOUNDS
Director: Zhang Zhongchen
Nighttime Sounds blends social realism with surrealist poetry to explore the emotional landscapes of women in rural China: their buried desires and muted cries for freedom, love and recognition. Eight-year-old Qing lives with her mother, while her father works in a distant city. One morning, Qing encounters a ghostly child searching for their missing mother. Through dreamlike imagery and a haunting soundscape, director Zhang Zhongchen weaves a powerful tale of memory, longing and the silence passed from one generation of women to the next.