Mother of Silence (أم السكته)
Qumra Projects
Zahraa Ghandour / Feature Documentary / Iraq, France, Qatar
In Arabic
Genres: Drama
Rated: This film has not been rated.
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Synopsis
In Baghdad today, Zahraa (30) returns to her childhood home to seek answers about her family's past and her own early years. She was kept as a baby in the house with her aunt Hayat (66), a midwife who still practises her profession in one of the house's bedrooms. For over twenty years, Zahraa has been haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend Noor from that same house.
Determined to find answers, she questions her aunt and sets out on a journey through Baghdad to search for any trace of Noor. Instead, she finds another girl, Laila (22), at the same shelter where Noor was last seen. Zahraa discovers that many girls are abandoned by their mothers due to gender-based violence. As she follows Laila’s struggle to build a life in a society that rejects her, Zahraa also examines how the war on Iraq has reinforced patriarchal systems to the point that mothers are forced to leave their baby daughters behind.
About the Director
Born in 1991 and based in Baghdad, Zahraa is a filmmaker, independent actor, and the executive producer and founder of Karada Films, a production company in Baghdad. She began her career as a writer, TV presenter, and director of TV documentaries while also building a decade-long freelance career as a director and producer for networks including Al Araby TV and BBC Arabic. Years later, she transitioned into acting, winning several international awards. She has written and directed ‘I Dream’, an experimental short film, and was selected as one of the International Emerging Film Talents Association’s (IEFTA) Global Film Expression initiative winners in 2021. In 2022, she founded IQ:Docs, an initiative that screens documentary films and hosts workshops with experts for youth in Iraq. Although Zahraa has no formal education in film, she has gained her expertise through self-teaching and hands-on practice in the field.
Credits
- Director
- Zahraa Ghandour
- Producer
- Marc Berdugo, Zahraa Ghandour
- Production Company
- Karada Films