The Station
Yemeni women gather at a petrol station amid an endless civil war. Within the station’s walls, they can breathe freely, but the war still threatens to tear their families apart.
Sara Ishaq’s debut fictional feature depicts a petrol station run by Yemeni women in the midst of a civil war. The station is an oasis where, within its walls, people breathe freely and dream about life. Outside, simply being is under threat, and men’s notions of honour are fragile. But how can a child be saved from the cycle of violence?
Scottish-Yemeni Ishaq began her career making documentaries about the Yemeni uprising. In The Station, she sets the story in a parallel reality where the parties to the civil war are fictional. In the film, oil is a necessity of everyday life, not a matter of geopolitics.
The protagonist, Layal (Manal Al-Mulaiki), lives with her younger brother Laith (Rashad Khaled) in the heart of enemy territory. On the home front, extortion and corruption are rife, but even a brief moment of breathing the air of freedom reveals just how colourful and harmonious life could be.
Ishaq shows how losses breed bitterness and bind to hatred. Everyone would flee if they could. The war has also shattered Layal’s relationship with her sister Shamsi (Abeer Mohammed). Together, however, they protect Laith from forced conscription. Laith is caring, playful and imaginative: all that the war demands that he give up in the guise of false masculinity.
Justus Pitkänen (translated by Moritz Müller)
Screenings
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Kino Engel 1Sun 20.9. at 18.40–20.32112 min, 1/4
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Kinopalatsi 1Mon 21.9. at 16.40–18.32112 min, 2/4
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Kino Engel 1Thu 24.9. at 21.00–22.52112 min, 3/4
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Kino Engel 2Sat 26.9. at 20.30–22.22112 min, 4/4
