Dir: Kurdwin Ayub | Austria/2024 93′ German and Arabic
Personal fitness gets a Middle Eastern work-over in this Ulrich Seidl produced sophomore feature from Kurdwin Ayub that sees an Austrian martial artist travel to Jordan to work with three princesses.
Tough on the outside but troubled and directionless Sarah gets a fresh lease of life on landing a well paid gig in Jordan after a brief online interview. The young Austrian flies from Vienna to a lavish Moroccan palace in Amman and is soon reminiscing with an Arab prince about his travels to Vienna where he enjoyed Sachertorte on his family visit.
Agreeing to sign a non-disclosure agreement that confines her to the training room and her lavish hotel this includes a strict embargo on social media. But the entente cordiale soon turns sour when the fitness guru taps into a misogynistic vibe between the prince and his teenage siblings which soon leads to a sinister discovery.
The next days sees Sarah (Florentina Holzinger) putting the girls – Fatima, Nour and Shaima – through their paces in a gruelling exercise regime that doesn’t agree with their couch potato lifestyle. The following day a visit to the mall takes precedence over exercise – these girls are not committed to anything but doing their makeup and chilling in their gilded internet free cage where bickering seems to be the order of the day, along with the odd prayer session in hijab and abaya.
Despite the draconian presence of body guards the girls still manage a sneak look at Sarah’s instagram. It soon emerges that self defence classes is what they want, and for good reason. When Sarah later hears frightened knocking sounds from upstairs and realises Fatima is calling for help her blood turns cold.
Asking to borrow Sarah’s phone one if the girls tries to publish footage of abuse afflicted on the fourth – hidden – sister Aya. Next day Sarah is summoned to Abdul’s office. The brother reminds the trainer of the strict code of not getting close to the girls. He claims Fatima is a troublemaker and to ignore her attention-seeking behaviour. On the other hand Sarah is pushing the boundaries and is clearly not emotionally mature enough to handle her mission and maintain a professional distance from the client.
Later that evening an attempt to flirt with the barman falls flat showing Sarah is clearly out of her depth, overwhelmed by events unfolding around her. She wants to bond with the girls but clearly this contravenes her rules of engagement and we start to fear the worst for her safety especially when she exchanges confidential information with the waitress. During these inadvisable exchanges it emerges the wealthy family is known for its mafiosi style with an omertà style code of silence. In trying to help the girls Sarah, in her naivety, makes a fatal error and events take a tragic turn.
Rather than simply exposing negative attitudes to women in the Middle East, the Iraqi-born writer director takes an even-handed approach in her startlingly unsettling documentary-thriller that occasionally veers into melodrama in exposing stark contrasts – and similarities – between Western and Middle Eastern youth culture for the of today. Both have drifted too far away from a healthy balance. MeredithTaylor
LOCARNO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024