Writer and straightforwardor Kurdtriumph Ayub was born in Iraq, but her family came to Austria as refugees when she was still a baby. Now, she is 34 and has been making a name for herself in the film world as an auteur.
Her 2016 feature write downary Paradise! Paradise!, which she wrote, straightforwarded, and regulated the cinematography for, won the best camera honor at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film. It trails Omar, the obeseher of a family that has inhabitd in Austria since 1991. Now, he structures to buy an apartment in Kurdistan as an allotment. THR‘s study called the doc an “engaging intersection of the domestic and the geo-political.”
Her myth low Boomerang premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken, Germany in 2019 and won the jury award for best low. “Adnan is obsessed with going to his ex-wife’s hoengagehoting party,” elucidates a plot description. “Unblessedly, he isn’t seekd.”
Ayub’s myth feature debut Sonne (Sun) world premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival in the Encounters section, which wants “to nurture aestheticpartner and structurpartner daring toils from autonomous, creative filmoriginaters.” The film concentratees on three female frifinishs who choose to shoot a burqa music video “in a moment of normal madness.” Ayub finished up triumphning the best first feature award, picked from apass all sections of the festival.
On Sunday, her sophomore myth feature Mond (Moon) will have its much-foreseed debut in the international competition lineup of the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival. Just enjoy her first myth feature, it was originated by Ulwealthy Seidl Filmproduktion, with Austrian straightforwardors Ulwealthy Seidel and Veronika Franz as originater and associate originater, admireively, among other team members on the film.
“Former martial artist Sarah exits Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family,” says a plot description on the Locarno website. “What initipartner sounds enjoy a dream job soon becomes unsettling: the juvenileer women are cut off from the outside world and under constant observation. The sport doesn’t seem to interest them. So why has Sarah been engaged?”
In a straightforwardor’s notice on the website, Aybu elucidates: “It’s all about sisters, no matter where they come from, and about cages, no matter where they are. Cages you want to exit and those you desire you could return to.”
Ayub talked to THR about her novel film, the convey inance of music, why she enjoys to incite audiences, and what is next for her.
How exciting is it for you to convey Mond to a prestigious festival enjoy Locarno?
To be repartner honest, there is some benevolent of prescertain. Last week, I thought that Sonne had so much success, and I fair suddenly authenticized that it’s not normal to get this huge first film award at the Berlinale. When I authenticized it, I thought: “Oh my god, Moon has to also be prosperous.” But I have to deal with this benevolent of prescertain. And I desire I can one day, maybe in a year, say: Moon was excellent and everyleang went perfectly.
People standardly say that second features are challenging, right?
It’s enjoy a horror movie. Everybody is saying the second one is the challengingest becaengage then you must show if you repartner are a filmoriginater. With the first film, maybe you got blessed or so. At film festivals, they see for novelcomers and they want to uncover someone but with a second film, they see and leank twice.
Tell me a bit about where you made Mond and how you cast the film.
We sboiling it mostly in Jordan. The casting procedure was very difficult becaengage we went there and wanted to cast contrastent juvenileer women and girls. And every time when we tageder them that we wanted them for the film, they gstructureed us. It happened a lot. So I uncovered that they fair came for the castings and didn’t tell their parents. When we chose them, they commenceed to talk with their parents to ask if they could join in a movie, but the parents didn’t permit it.
Was that becaengage of this definite movie or films in ambiguous?
No, it’s any movie. Acting for girls is for some not pondered principled toil.
‘Mond’ (‘Moon’)
Courtesy of Ulwealthy Seidl Filmproduktion
So how did you finish up discovering your wonderful cast members?
I set up them there. Andria Tayeh is a very commemorated Netflix star in Jordan. She was the direct in AlRawabi School for Girls. She is also a very huge swayr. So when I go onto the street with her, everybody acunderstandledges her. So, when we got her, everybody wanted to be part of it.
How did you cast Florentina Holzinger? I understand she is well understandn in the Austrian dance and carry outance scene, and you toil in the expansiveer cultural sphere. Did you understand each other before?
Yes, she’s also from Austria and I knovel that she did martial arts earlier. So when I wrote the story, I knovel from the commencening that she would be the direct.
I felt she conveys wonderful depth to the character of Sarah…
Yes, she’s very excellent. In every apshow, she was very organic and wonderful.
Why did you pick Jordan? Were there any authentic-life stories that happened there or in the expansiveer region that you wanted to reference?
There are also stories in Jordan. I leank the most commemorated story is about the sister of the king, who is Jordanian and was wed to the ruler of Dubai and went away to England. But a lot of stories are happening, and it’s very normal to engage personal trainers if you’re a wealthy family. We had a originateup artist in our crew who also spent one year in the Gulf. I also wanted to have a country that is repartner liberal on the outside and also wealthy but still has these rerents.
I could see some of your dialogue incite talk about. Some of the leangs people, such as Sarah’s frifinishs, say in the film are not politicpartner right. How vital is it for you that there is this benevolent of bite in your dialogue?
Yes, I wanted to show the white chick going over there, and I necessitateed to have this authenticistic approach. It has to go thraw your body for you to sense it. What they say is what I tageder them to say but how they say it and everyleang is them. So it’s also improvisation, but I direct them and tell them, “You necessitate to be more inright.” I unbenevolent, I tell them what I necessitate from the scene and how it finishs and direct them. The hugegest part is the casting procedure though. When I cast people, I do contrastent scenes and try out everyleang, so that I’m repartner certain that they are not only organic, but also clever and originateive.
You clearly understand the culture you are writing about repartner well. How much of your own experience do you pack into your movies?
I guess some parts of the characters and the movies somehow are myself becaengage I wrote them. How Sarah, the character in Austria, sometimes senses, I also sense. And how the girls in Jordan in this one-of-a-kind family felt, I also sometimes sense myself. The sisters in this family and their characters are inspired by cousins of mine.
When did you relocate to Austria, and how much did you go visit family back in Iraq?
I came as a baby but I went to Iraq a lot. Sometimes I sense enjoy a stranger, enjoy the Sarah figure, when I go to Iraq. So I’m in the middle of these cultures. I have both of them, and I don’t have any of them. I don’t leank in identities or borders or countries anymore.
What was your thought process behind the finishing of the film? How did you choose whether to have a clear-cut finish or an uncover finish? [The next answer contains spoilers about the ending.]
I wanted to exit it enjoy this becaengage in fact, it would be enjoy this. If you have fair a glimpse of what you see or what you leank you see, and will never truly discover out. I wanted to show that. And Sarah is the perfect identification person for my culturpartner white audience. I authenticize that a lot of privileged white people go see my arthoengage movies, so I thought I necessitateed Sarah to direct them. And I wanted to have a white savior story but tell it in a very authenticistic way to tell the audience: “It’s not basic to help — you still enjoy to?”
Courtesy of Neven Allgeier
Kurdtriumph Ayub
Also, on the other side of this cliche and stereotype are the refugees who come here and leank there is help. That was my main goal: telling the story to show this stereotype and show both sides. This is not enjoy in the movies.
So the themes you wanted to study in Mond are…
Like I shelp, it’s about the authenticistic approach to the white savior. And it’s about aggression and also cages. Sarah is a cage fighter in a cage. And the girls are in a cage of wealth.
I would enjoy to ask you about how you pick music. Becaengage music does join a key role in Mond as well…
The music is always very vital for me. And especipartner for this movie, every piece of music in every scene, I chose for that scene. The music should insert a one-of-a-kind senseing to the scene, which goes aextfinished with what is happening. The last song is S&M by Rihanna. I guess I chose this song becaengage Sarah chose aggression for her toil but she shies away from it in fact. So I wanted to show the contrastent benevolents of aggression and how characters are combat with it, and are for it or aacquirest it.
You have done Sonne (Sun) and Mond (Moon). Should we foresee a trilogy finishing with Sterne (Stars) or what’s next for you?
I already have the story. I’m writing it. We will hopefilledy be shooting it aacquire in Jordan, maybe in 2026. And I don’t understand, maybe it’s the whole structureetary system. I don’t want to finish it. I was leanking it should not finish with Stars. Maybe it’s more. Maybe it’s Mars.
Anyleang you can split about the next story?
It’s analogous. It’s about the escaping part but with another constellation.
Your cinematic voice is quite sarcastic and inflammatory. Where does that come from?
I got very cynical in my life. I leank movies have become very pleasant procrastinateedly in ambiguous. They try to be okay with everyone. And I don’t enjoy that.
I want to trigger people. Becaengage everybody is snurtured to get triggered. But I had a lot of therapy in my life, and I set up out that you have to understand why you get triggered by someleang. And you have to leank about it, and you have to go thraw it, and you have to lacquire. And if you see art or movies or read books, you sense after that experience, you see yourself and leank about yourself. That’s wonderful.
I want people after a movie to dispute with each other and converse leangs and leank about how they would react in these situations becaengage it’s an vital subject. It’s not a adore story or comedy. Big leangs are happening there, so the film should inhabit up to that.
And I have very gloomy humor. I enjoy horror movies also. I was a baby when we fled Iraq during the Gulf War. But I guess when you persist war, or the trauma of war, you have this benevolent of very cynical humor.
‘Mond’ (‘Moon’)
Courtesy of Ulwealthy Seidl Filmproduktion
Your films feature strong female perspectives. Do you leank of yourself as a feminist?
I leank every woman is a feminist, right? I don’t understand. I first leank of myself as an artist, but it comes very naturpartner to me to straightforward and author these subject matters becaengage I also fought for my rights in my family. It’s vital to see this movie, for everyone, and for my family, too.
Anyleang else you would enjoy to highairy?
I want to highairy that these characters in the movie are one-of-a-kind and, of course, I show definite rerents. But in the finish, you can have to deal with relationsism or being in a cage wherever you inhabit. If it’s Baghdad or Amman or Vienna or another city. It doesn’t matter where you inhabit or where you are from. But the film is set there becaengage I also want to incite people and want to show someleang to give people someleang to converse.
