Sonne

63rd TIFF: Greek Premiere

Three teenage girls from Vienna twerk in hijab and sing a pop song. A YouTube video of it makes them famous overnight, especially among Kurdish Muslims. Yesmin, the only one of the friends who is Kurdish herself, begins to distance herself more and more from her culture. Nati and Bella, on the other hand, seem fascinated by a world that is strange to them. When the girls meet two young Kurdish patriots, the situation threatens to escalate. A unique film about young people caught between social media and self-discovery, a story of rebellious young women.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Kurdwin Ayub

Script: Kurdwin Ayub

Cinematography: Enzo Brandner

Editing: Roland Stöttingaer

Sound: David Almeida-Ribeiro

Actors: Melina Benli, Law Wallner, Maya Wopienka

Production: Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion

Producers: Ulrich Seidl

Costumes: Carola Pizzini

Sets: Julia Libiseller

Make Up: Jenny Bladek

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: Austria

Production Year: 2022

Duration: 88΄

Contact: Cercamon

Awards/Distinctions: GWFF Best First Feature Award – Berlin IFF 2022

Kurdwin Ayub

Kurdwin Ayub was born in Iraq in 1990. Currently, she works as a director, screenwriter, and video and performance artist in Vienna, Austria. Her shorts have been shown and awarded at numerous international film festivals. In 2013, Ayub was awarded the Vienna Independent Short Newcomer Prize, in 2011 and 2012, she received the Viennale Mehrwert Short Film Prize. In 2012, she presented a series of her short films at the Viennale. Her feature documentary Paradise! Paradise! – direction, screenplay, and cinematography by Ayub – won Best Camera at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film, the New Waves Non-Fiction Award at the Sevilla Festival de Cine Europeo, and the Carte Blanche Prize of the Duisburger Filmwoche in 2016. At Berlinale 2022, Kurdwin Ayub was awarded the GWFF Best First Feature Award for Sonne.