SECTIONS // OFFICIAL COMPETITION FEATURE LENGTH

Sonita

Audience Award
Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
91' / 2015 / Germany, Iran, Switzerland
Web: www.wmm.com/sonita/
Farsi, English
English and spanish subtitled

Audience vote 9.01

The young Sonita dreams of another life. An Afghan refugee in Iran who works as a cleaner at the refugee center that doubles as a school, she imagines herself a rapper — the spiritual daughter of Michael Jackson and Rihanna. Not exactly your typical refugee. So when her mother summons her home to sell her as a bride, Sonita looks for any way out of a future she dreads. Enter Rokhsareh Ghaemmagami, an intrepid filmmaker torn between documenting Sonita’s struggle and her protective desire to help. This tension elevates the film by calling into question many assumptions about the making of documentary films, producing in their journey together.

Main Festivals & Awards

Awards : Audience Award - IDFA / Doc U Award - IDFA / World Documentary Grand Jury Prize - Sundance / Audience Award - Sundance / Audience Award - One World International FF
Festivals: IDFA / Sundance / DocPoint / !f Istanbul / Zagrebdox / Human Rights Human Wrongs / Tempo / London HRWFF / FIFDH Geneva / Thessaloniki / One World IFF / Vera Film Festival / Ambulante / Mooov / Hot Docs / Docs Against Gravity / DocumentaMadrid / DocsBarcelona |/ Sheffield Doc/Fest

Director's Biography

Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami was born in Tehran and studied filmmaking and animation in Tehran Art University. Her published essays and research include the book, “Animated Documentary: A New Way to Express,” published in Persian in 2009. Her short documentary works include Pigeon Fanciers (2000), A Loud Solitude (2010), Born 20 Minutes Late (2010), Going Up the Stairs (2011), and the animated documentary Cyanosis (2007).