Sun

Vienna, an ordinary afternoon: Yesmin (Melina Benli), Nati (Maya Wopienka) and Bella (Law Wallner) dance to R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” wearing the hijabs of Yesmin’s mother, then post the phone video online. The clip goes viral, and the three are celebrated in the Kurdish community and booked for family celebrations. But while Bella and Nati clearly enjoy their new role, Yesmin, the only practising Muslim of the trio, increasingly finds herself having to justify herself – to her family, to her friends and to an audience that turns her faith into a projection screen. Kurdwin Ayub tells this coming-of-age story with a restless handheld camera, interspersed phone clips and chat threads, staying firmly in her characters’ perspective. The result is an energetic, often funny portrait of a generation that raises questions of identity, belonging and self-presentation without offering easy answers. Born in Iraq in 1990 and raised in Vienna, the director draws on her own experiences. Her feature debut, produced by Ulrich Seidl, premiered in 2022 in the Berlinale’s Encounters section, where it won the GWFF Best First Feature Award; at the Viennale it was named Best Austrian Film.