MAIN DRAMATIC COMPETITION “MAKING WAY”

RABIA

2024 / 94 min / color

Jessica (a moving performance by Megan Northam) is a 19-year-old French girl who travels to Syria with her friend Laila (Natacha Krief), attracted by the promise of a new life. Even on the plane, the two girls can’t hide their excitement about what they believe will be a complete change from their grey everyday existence — they plan to join the Islamic State and settle into a home for future wives of fighters. It turns out the place is run with an iron fist by a woman called Madame (Lubna Azabal). Jessica, renamed Rabia, quickly realizes that total obedience is required, and the only way to cope is to forget her own needs and submit completely. Jessica becomes Madame’s assistant, and comes to realize how little separates victim from perpetrator under these circumstances. Mareike Engelhardt’s feature debut is based on actual events, and in reality this story is just a drop in the ocean in terms of the overall problem: it’s estimated that 42,000 people from 110 countries joined the Islamic State between 2013 and 2016. The German director looks at the issue from the inside, creating an intimate, shocking portrait of the mechanism of indoctrination and the associated illusion of a new, better life.

A Q&A session with the filmmakers will take place during the film screening on May 3 at 12:00 PM at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Please note: the Q&A will be in English.

• Bastia IFF – Audience Award, Special Mention