Moon
In this slow-burning thriller produced by Ulrich Seidl, a battered MMA fighter moves to Jordan to coach the daughters of a wealthy family — young women fighting for autonomy, and for the right to defend themselves both mentally and physically.
Sarah, a retired Austrian MMA fighter and coach, receives a job offer from a Jordanian family. In the absence of the parents, the brother Abdul acts as the head of the family and hopes that his three sisters Fatima, Shaima and Nour will become future MMA fighters. Sarah jumps at the chance and arrives at a luxurious mansion where a non-disclosure agreement that forbids her to talk about the family’s affairs to anyone else awaits her. The atmosphere is ominous as the sisters are reluctant to train, the upstairs is off limits, the otherwise modern home lacks internet access, Nour repeatedly borrows Sarah’s phone for “Instagramming” and Fatima turns up to training with a bruise on her lip, blaming a botox injection gone wrong…
In this film, Iraqi Kurdistan-born director Kurdwin Ayub explores the destructive effects of power, secrecy and honour. The sound design paints a picture of anxiety and uncertainty from the start, as Sarah’s work seems too good to be true. The mixed martial arts symbolise the attempt by the young women to get a stranglehold on the power-holders who control their lives. Growing up in an oppressive family, the sisters struggle for the right to independence and to mental as well as physical self-defence.
Jaakko Jokinen (translated by Moritz Müller)
Trailer
