Soraya, 16, creates breath-taking and rather dark drawings and sculptures. This resilient artist from Afghanistan has spent the last five years attempting to leave Iran and reconnect with her mother in Austria. She is married to a violent man, which makes her all the more determined to create a future of her own. The film delivers an intimate self-portrait where the heart-breaking attempts to escape intertwine with the political news from Afghanistan and footage showing Soraya sing and dance, or moments when she reveals bruises. The entire film was made remotely: the film director supervised the project from afar, and Soraya dedicated five years of her life to film herself with a phone. The recorded footage is combined with shots of her drawings and surreal animations. The artistic work by Soraya uses three recurring characters: a faithful fox (her travel companion), a pink moon (a guard that watches her), and a clown (one that always laughs) – the latter being the character Soraya identifies with the most.
Credits
Directed by: Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi
Photography: Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi
Production: Oskouei Films
Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi
A film director, producer, and photographer from Iran. He was born in 1969, in Tehran. He has made more than 25 documentaries and short films, which won more than 180 film awards at film festivals all over the world. He is most recognised for the series of four films about the fate of young delinquents: ‘It’s Always Late for Freedom’ (2007), ‘The Last Days of Winter’ (2011), multi-award winning ‘Starless Dreams’ (2016), and ‘Sunless Shadows’ (2019), the latter of which was selected as the opening film of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and won the Award for Best Directing. In 2010, Mehrdad Oskouei received the Prince Claus Award presented by the Netherlands for the humanistic commitment shown in his film work. He is a winner of the True Vision Award at the True/False Film Fest (2016). He is also a co-founder of the Iranian Institute of Anthropology and Culture (IIAC), and an avid film educator.
