Original Sin
Synopsis
Mother's husband and Son's father has just died. Mother is losing everything; her house, her glamour, her visibility. Son is profiting from grief; a drag queen who wins the applause his mother has never received. Whilst he has the spotlight, she is erased. He exaggerates stories of his mother, bartering in Islamophobic tropes to win white peoples’ sympathy. Her life is being re-written by her son – and he does it dressed as her.
Like Medea before her, Mother decides to claim what is hers – her voice, her identity, her story, her trauma. She confronts her son backstage for a show. A tragic Greek confrontation ensues, where intergenerational curses are finally broken, and Mother claims what she feels is rightfully hers.
Her womanhood, her spotlight, her moment.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2025 - World premiere
Official Selection Aesthetica Film Festival 2025
Details
- Year
- 2025
- Type of film
- Shorts
- Running time
- 14 min 52 sec
- Format
- 35mm
- Director
-
Amrou Al-Kadhi
- Producer
- Tim Katz
- Executive Producer
- Holly Fraser, Alex Mattinson
- Editor
- Konstantin Bock
- Screenwriter
- Amrou Al-Kadhi
- Director of Photography
- Christopher Aoun
- Production Designer
- Soraya Gilanni Vijoen
- Sound
- Tom Heddy
- Composer
- CJ Mirra
- Principal cast
- Mojean Aria, Darina Al Joundi, Sima Rostami
- Production Manager
- Bill James
- Production Assistant
- Christina Wiafe-Toppin
- 1st Assistant Director
- Sean Cotter
- Art Director
- Xenia Flint
- Gaffer
- Kevin Gibb
- Costume Designer
- Jonathan Lipman
- Chief Hair & Makeup Artist
- AJ Juttla
- Casting Director
- Connor Williams
- BTS Photographer
- Hugh Rochfort
- Post Production
- SELECTED WORKS
- Post Producer
- Sean Costelloe
Genre
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Knucklehead
Claire LeaverSales Company
Knucklehead
Claire LeaverEdd Campbell-Bird
Page updates
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See also
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Layla
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Year: 2024
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Anemone
Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
Year: 2018
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The Ravenous Femme: Victoria Sin
Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
Year: 2017
Victoria Sin unapologetically takes up space when they are in drag, giving spotlight and agency to the daily labours of femininity that are invisible and policed. Commissioned by NOWNESS, this film demonstrates the transformative power of Victoria's drag, positioning Victoria where they belong - in cinematic grandeur, with a gaze that they own. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Create Strand - Short Film Competition - World premiere