SIRENS

United States, Libya 2022 – Director(s) Rita Baghdadi – 78 min – Spoken languages: Arabic, English – Subtitles: English

Lilas and Shery, co-foun­ders and gui­ta­rists of Lebanon’s first all-fema­le metal band, wrest­le with fri­end­ship, sexua­li­ty and des­truc­tion in their pur­su­it of beco­ming thrash metal rock stars.

On the out­skirts of Bei­rut, Lilas and her thrash metal band­ma­tes, Shery, Maya, Alma and Tatya­na (Slave to Sirens), have big dreams but few oppor­tu­ni­ties. When the band’s appearance at a UK music fes­ti­val isn’t the life-chan­ger they had hoped for, Lilas comes home to Leba­non on the brink of col­lap­se. At the same time, the com­pli­ca­ted fri­end­ship bet­ween Lilas and her fel­low gui­ta­rist Shery starts to frac­tu­re. The future of her band, her coun­try and her dreams now all at sta­ke, Lilas faces a cross­road. She must deci­de what kind of lea­der she will be, not only for her band, but also as a young woman strugg­ling to defi­ne hers­elf in Leba­non, a regi­on of the Midd­le East as com­plex as each of the Sirens them­sel­ves. (Syn­op­sis: Pro­duc­tion Company)

United States, Libya 2022 – Director(s) Rita Baghdadi – 78 min – Spoken languages: Arabic, English – Subtitles: English – Camera: Rita Baghdadi – Sound: Tatiana el Dahdah – Editing: Grace Zahrah – Music: Para One – Production: Animal Pictures, Lady & Bird and Endless Eye, in association with XTR – Producer: Camilla Hall, Rita Baghdadi

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