Kurdtriumph Ayub Locarno Film Festival 2024 Intersee: ‘Mond,’ ‘Moon’

Writer and straightforwardor Kurdtriumph Ayub was born in Iraq, but her family came to Austria as refugees when she was still a baby. Now, she is 34 and has been making a name for herself in the film world as an auteur.

Her 2016 feature write downary Paradise! Paradise!, which she wrote, straightforwarded, and handled the cinematography for, won the best camera honor at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film. It adheres Omar, the obeseher of a family that has dwelld in Austria since 1991. Now, he set ups to buy an apartment in Kurdistan as an set upatement. THR‘s scrutinize called the doc an “engaging intersection of the domestic and the geo-political.”

Her fantasy stupidinutive Boomerang premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken, Germany in 2019 and won the jury award for best stupidinutive. “Adnan is obsessed with going to his ex-wife’s hoparticipatetoastying party,” clarifys a plot description. “Unblessedly, he isn’t seekd.”

Ayub’s fantasy feature debut Sonne (Sun) world premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival in the Encounters section, which wants “to nurture aestheticpartner and structurpartner daring toils from autonomous, createive filmcreaters.” The film intensifyes on three female frifinishs who choose to shoot a burqa music video “in a moment of standard madness.” Ayub finished up triumphning the best first feature award, picked from atraverse all sections of the festival.

On Sunday, her sophomore fantasy feature Mond (Moon) will have its much-awaitd debut in the international competition lineup of the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival. Just enjoy her first fantasy feature, it was created by Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion, with Austrian straightforwardors Ulrich Seidel and Veronika Franz as creater and associate creater, admireively, among other team members on the film.

“Former martial artist Sarah departs Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family,” says a plot description on the Locarno website. “What initipartner sounds enjoy a dream job soon becomes unsettling: the juvenileer women are cut off from the outside world and under constant watching. The sport doesn’t seem to interest them. So why has Sarah been engaged?”

In a straightforwardor’s remark on the website, Aybu clarifys: “It’s all about sisters, no matter where they come from, and about cages, no matter where they are. Cages you want to depart and those you desire you could return to.”

Ayub talked to THR about her recent film, the presentance of music, why she enjoys to encourage audiences, and what is next for her.

How exciting is it for you to transport Mond to a prestigious festival enjoy Locarno?

To be repartner truthful, there is some benevolent of prescertain. Last week, I thought that Sonne had so much success, and I fair suddenly authenticized that it’s not standard to get this huge first film award at the Berlinale. When I authenticized it, I thought: “Oh my god, Moon has to also be prosperous.” But I have to deal with this benevolent of prescertain. And I desire I can one day, maybe in a year, say: Moon was excellent and everyleang went perfectly.

People frequently say that second features are difficult, right?

It’s enjoy a horror movie. Everybody is saying the second one is the difficultest becaparticipate then you must exhibit if you repartner are a filmcreater. With the first film, maybe you got blessed or so. At film festivals, they see for recentcomers and they want to uncover someone but with a second film, they see and leank twice.

Tell me a bit about where you made Mond and how you cast the film.

We stoasty it mostly in Jordan. The casting procedure was very difficult becaparticipate we went there and wanted to cast contrastent juvenileer women and girls. And every time when we tageder them that we wanted them for the film, they gstructureed us. It happened a lot. So I uncovered that they fair came for the castings and didn’t tell their parents. When we chose them, they begined to talk with their parents to ask if they could take part in a movie, but the parents didn’t apexhibit it.

Was that becaparticipate of this particular movie or films in ambiguous?

No, it’s any movie. Acting for girls is for some not pondered principled toil.

So how did you finish up discovering your wonderful cast members?

I set up them there. Andria Tayeh is a very well-understandn Netflix star in Jordan. She was the direct in AlRawabi School for Girls. She is also a very huge swayr. So when I go onto the street with her, everybody accomprehendledges her. So, when we got her, everybody wanted to be part of it.

How did you cast Florentina Holzinger? I understand she is well understandn in the Austrian dance and carry outance scene, and you toil in the expansiveer cultural sphere. Did you understand each other before?

Yes, she’s also from Austria and I krecent that she did martial arts earlier. So when I wrote the story, I krecent from the commencening that she would be the direct.

I felt she transports fantastic depth to the character of Sarah…

Yes, she’s very excellent. In every consent, she was very organic and fantastic.

Why did you pick Jordan? Were there any authentic-life stories that happened there or in the expansiveer region that you wanted to reference?

There are also stories in Jordan. I leank the most well-understandn story is about the sister of the king, who is Jordanian and was wed to the ruler of Dubai and went away to England. But a lot of stories are happening, and it’s very normal to engage personal trainers if you’re a rich family. We had a createup artist in our crew who also spent one year in the Gulf. I also wanted to have a country that is repartner liberal on the outside and also rich but still has these publishs.

I could see some of your dialogue encourage debate. Some of the leangs people, such as Sarah’s frifinishs, say in the film are not politicpartner right. How presentant is it for you that there is this benevolent of bite in your dialogue?

Yes, I wanted to show the white chick going over there, and I necessitateed to have this down-to-earth approach. It has to go thraw your body for you to sense it. What they say is what I tageder them to say but how they say it and everyleang is them. So it’s also improvisation, but I direct them and tell them, “You necessitate to be more inright.” I unbenevolent, I tell them what I necessitate from the scene and how it finishs and direct them. The hugegest part is the casting procedure though. When I cast people, I do contrastent scenes and try out everyleang, so that I’m repartner certain that they are not only organic, but also clever and createive. 

You clearly understand the culture you are writing about repartner well. How much of your own experience do you pack into your movies?

I guess some parts of the characters and the movies somehow are myself becaparticipate I wrote them. How Sarah, the character in Austria, sometimes senses, I also sense. And how the girls in Jordan in this exceptional family felt, I also sometimes sense myself. The sisters in this family and their characters are encouraged by cousins of mine.

When did you transfer to Austria, and how much did you go visit family back in Iraq?

I came as a baby but I went to Iraq a lot. Sometimes I sense enjoy a stranger, enjoy the Sarah figure, when I go to Iraq. So I’m in the middle of these cultures. I have both of them, and I don’t have any of them. I don’t leank in identities or borders or countries anymore.

What was your thought process behind the finishing of the film? How did you choose whether to have a clear-cut finish or an uncover finish? [The next answer contains spoilers about the ending.]

I wanted to depart it enjoy this becaparticipate in fact, it would be enjoy this. If you have fair a glimpse of what you see or what you leank you see, and will never truly discover out. I wanted to show that. And Sarah is the perfect identification person for my culturpartner white audience. I authenticize that a lot of privileged white people go see my arthoparticipate movies, so I thought I necessitateed Sarah to direct them. And I wanted to have a white savior story but tell it in a very down-to-earth way to tell the audience: “It’s not effortless to help — you still enjoy to?”

Kurdtriumph Ayub

Also, on the other side of this cliche and stereotype are the refugees who come here and leank there is help. That was my main goal: telling the story to show this stereotype and show both sides. This is not enjoy in the movies.

So the themes you wanted to set upateigate in Mond are…

Like I shelp, it’s about the down-to-earth approach to the white savior. And it’s about aggression and also cages. Sarah is a cage fighter in a cage. And the girls are in a cage of wealth.

I would enjoy to ask you about how you pick music. Becaparticipate music does carry out a key role in Mond as well…

The music is always very presentant for me. And especipartner for this movie, every piece of music in every scene, I chose for that scene. The music should include a exceptional senseing to the scene, which goes aextfinished with what is happening. The last song is S&M by Rihanna. I guess I chose this song becaparticipate Sarah chose aggression for her toil but she shies away from it in fact. So I wanted to show the contrastent benevolents of aggression and how characters are combat with it, and are for it or agetst it.

You have done Sonne (Sun) and Mond (Moon). Should we await a trilogy finishing with Sterne (Stars) or what’s next for you?

I already have the story. I’m writing it. We will hopefilledy be shooting it aget in Jordan, maybe in 2026. And I don’t understand, maybe it’s the whole set upetary system. I don’t want to finish it. I was leanking it should not finish with Stars. Maybe it’s more. Maybe it’s Mars.

Anyleang you can split about the next story?

It’s aenjoy. It’s about the escaping part but with another constellation.

Your cinematic voice is quite sarcastic and stimulating. Where does that come from?

I got very cynical in my life. I leank movies have become very kind defercessitately in ambiguous. They try to be okay with everyone. And I don’t enjoy that.

I want to trigger people. Becaparticipate everybody is sattfinishd to get triggered. But I had a lot of therapy in my life, and I set up out that you have to understand why you get triggered by someleang. And you have to leank about it, and you have to go thraw it, and you have to lget. And if you see art or movies or read books, you sense after that experience, you see yourself and leank about yourself. That’s fantastic.

I want people after a movie to debate with each other and talk leangs and leank about how they would react in these situations becaparticipate it’s an presentant subject. It’s not a adore story or comedy. Big leangs are happening there, so the film should dwell up to that.

And I have very sorrowfulnessful humor. I enjoy horror movies also. I was a baby when we fled Iraq during the Gulf War. But I guess when you persist war, or the trauma of war, you have this benevolent of very cynical humor.

Your films feature strong female perspectives. Do you leank of yourself as a feminist?

I leank every woman is a feminist, right? I don’t understand. I first leank of myself as an artist, but it comes very naturpartner to me to straightforward and author these subject matters becaparticipate I also fought for my rights in my family. It’s presentant to see this movie, for everyone, and for my family, too.

Anyleang else you would enjoy to highairy?

I want to highairy that these characters in the movie are exceptional and, of course, I show particular publishs. But in the finish, you can have to deal with relationsism or being in a cage wherever you dwell. If it’s Baghdad or Amman or Vienna or another city. It doesn’t matter where you dwell or where you are from. But the film is set there becaparticipate I also want to encourage people and want to show someleang to give people someleang to talk.