A symbolic examination of how men treat women in most of the Middle East from a young woman’s perspective. This is a moving women’s rights statement that rejects the objectification of women and the violence that often accompanies it. The film does not call for direct confrontation but instead calls for female inner strength to overcome the repression. Powerful images, voiceover comments, and pointed questions convey layered meanings, complemented by a classical musical score that adds depth and sensitivity. Transfixing from start to finish, Perspective takes a brilliant outside-the-box approach and delivers a clear, strong, and inspiring message.
Community Partner
Sarah Smadi, Hala Alyusuf, Cyrine Mah, Dania Makhlouf, Israa Alshaer, Nawal Osama, Natalie Badran
Iraq/Jordan
2021
English
Domestic Violence, Gender or Sexual Violence
Featured in:
International Shorts: Morality Plays
Morals are being challenged on many fronts. The protagonists in this program of short films are all faced with difficult moral choices and they don’t always make the right decisions.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.
Credits
Executive Producer
Alaa Algburi
Producer
Yousef Yousef
Screenwriter
Alaa Algburi
Cinematography
Suzan Nsoor
Editor
Suzan Nsoor
Art Director
Nilover Shehadat
Director
Alaa Algburi
Alaa Algburi was born in Baghdad, Iraq and currently lives in Amman, Jordan. She has degrees in both filmmaking and English literature, and experience in writing, directing, cinematography, and editing for film and TV commercials.