Mother of Silence
Fall Grants 2024 - Post-Production Stage
Zahraa Ghandour / Feature Documentary / Iraq, France, Qatar / 85 min / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Documentary
Synopsis
“Born and raised in a midwife’s house in Baghdad, Director Zahraa witnessed violence against women from an early age. At just ten years old, she saw her friend and neighbour, Noor, taken away—only to disappear without a trace. Through her personal story, Zahraa delves into Iraq’s wars and tribal laws, uncovering the reasons families abandon their daughters. Against the odds of a deeply patriarchal society, the surviving girls struggle to carve out solitary lives of resilience and independence.
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Credits
- Director
- Zahraa Ghandour
- Screenwriter
- Zahraa Ghandour
- Producer
- Zahraa Ghandour, Marc Berdugo, Barbara Conforti
- Production Company
- 'Karada Films, Lila Productions
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.