The teaser (above) has debuted for “Moon” (Mond), which has its world premiere on Aug. 11 in the International Competition section of Locarno Film Festival. Bendita Film Sales has just come on board to handle world sales rights.
The film is written and directed by Kurdwin Ayub, whose first fiction feature film, “Sonne,” premiered at the 2022 Berlinale in the Encounters competition and won the best first feature award.
Ayub, who was born in Iraq and lives in Vienna, was also nominated for the European Discovery Award at the 35th European Film Awards for “Sonne.” It won best Austrian film at Viennale. Her feature documentary “Paradise! Paradise!” won best camera at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film.
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In “Moon,” former martial arts fighter Sarah leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family. What sounds initially like a dream job soon becomes unsettling: the young women are cut off from the outside world and under constant surveillance. Sport doesn’t seem to interest them. So why has Sarah been hired?
In a statement, Ayub said: “It’s all about sisters, no matter where they come from, and about cages, no matter where they are. Cages you want to leave and those you wish you could return to.”
The film stars Florentina Holzinger, Andria Tayeh, Celina Antwan and Nagham Abu Baker.
“Moon” is produced by controversial filmmaker Ulrich Seidl for Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion with the support of the Austrian Film Institute and Filmfonds Vienna, and in collaboration with ORF Film and Fernseh-Abkommen. The co-producers are ZDF/ARTE and ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel. It is made in collaboration with Essential Films.
The film shot from April until August 2023 in Jordan and Austria.
The cinematographer is Klemens Hufnagl and the editor is Roland Stöttinger.
