Mitra, an ambitious artist around 40, a mother and a wife, embarks on her dream of making a film about her hero, the legendary female singer of the Arab world, Oum Kalthoum.

Neshat said that the film is based on her obsession with how Umm Kulthum, “as a Muslim woman artist, was able to transcend all sexual, religious, political, and national barriers and expectations, and became the single most significant Middle Eastern artist of the 20th century.”

“Looking for Umm Kulthum” is the “story of an Iranian woman filmmaker, living in exile, who dares to make a film about an iconic Arab singer without being Arabic herself,” Neshat said in her first interview about the long-gestating project, which is now in post. “The film therefore is not a biopic, but a very personal story, loosely based on my own experiences and challenges.”


Shirin Neshat • Director • Interview

Neshat, who won the Venice Silver Lion in 2009 for her previous film “Women Without Men,” said that a key aspect of Kulthum’s fame is the heights it reached. Her popularity is “unprecedented even in the West, where no artist, male or female, has ever reached that level,” Neshat said. Kulthum is “especially incomparable to any iconic female Western artists who have often had tragic endings.”

“Looking for Umm Kulthum” is likely to surface on the festival circuit later this year. It is produced by Berlin-based Razor Film in tandem with Austria’s Coop 99; Italy’s Vivo Films and In Between Arts; Morocco’s Agora Films; and Lebanon’s Shortcut Films, with the support of the Doha Film Institute. It was shot in Morocco and Austria.



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Looking for Oum Kulthum

SYNOPSIS

Mitra, an ambitious artist, mother and wife in her late 40s, embarks on her lifelong dream of making a film about her hero, the legendary singer of the Arab World, Oum Kulthum. Her film’s central aim is to explore the struggles, sacrifices and the price of Oum Kulthum’s success as a female artist living in a conservative male dominated society.

Mitra herself achieved fame and success abroad, but her career choices made it impossible to return home, which separated her from her son and family.

The increasing difficulties of capturing Oum Kulthum’s essence as a myth, a woman, and an artist lead Mitra to have a complete breakdown.

Now Ghada, an exceptionally gifted actress and singer playing the role of Oum Kulthum, comes to Mitra’s rescue, as she is connected to the core of life and femininity and is naturally wise. Through this Mitra achieves self-realisation and an artistic breakthrough.

CAST

Neda Rahmanian
Yasmin Raeis
Mehdi Moinzadeh
Kais Nashif

CREW

Director Shirin Neshat

Script Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari

DoP Martin Gschlacht

Production Design Erwin Prib
Costume Design Mariano Tufano
Sound Claus Benischke-Lang
Editing Nadia Ben Rachid
Producers Roman Paul, Gerhard Meixner, Bruno Wagner, Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari