Edition 2022
78'
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2022
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Documentary
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Dialogue:
Arabic, English
Sirens has been piling up awards since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film tells the story of the Lebanese trash metal band Slave To Sirens, which consists exclusively of women.
"Metal is all about sacrifice." The five musicians of Slave To Sirens, who defy conformity in society, are in complete agreement about this. Lebanon is known as the most progressive country in the Middle East, but even there it's not easy for five women to play in a metal band. Certainly not if you belong to the lgbtq+ community, like Lilas Mayassi and Shery Bechara. The two guitarists of the band once had a relationship and the break-up is still palpable. But in Sirens, director Rita Baghdadi concentrates on the band's struggle against prejudice, and especially on the passion that keeps the fire burning in the quintet. Baghdadi also has a fine eye for the bustling, noisy and demanding city that it Beirut. Sirens, filmed partly after the city's horrific port incident, is an ode to undaunted perseverance.
“Trying to make it in the music industry is hard enough, but when you're the only all-woman thrash metal band in the Middle East, it's even harder. In the documentary Sirens, the group known as Slave To Sirens has to deal with the struggles of their people in the tumultuous and unraveling city of Beirut.” - Slash Film
Image gallery
Credits
Directors
Rita Baghdadi
Composers
Para One, Jean-Baptiste de Laubier
Cast
Shery Bechara, Lilas Mayassi
Scenario
Rita Baghdadi
Director of Photography
Rita Baghdadi
Editors
Grace Zahrah, Jennifer Tiexiera
Producers
Rita Baghdadi, Camilla Hall
Production studios
Animal Pictures
Distributor
MOOOV
More info
Dialogue
Arabic, English
Countries of production
United States of America, Lebanon
Year
2022
Filmography
Rita Baghdadi
Not So Namaste (short, 2014), Moms (short, 2014), Use of Force (short, 2015), Saving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands (short, 2016), My Country No More (2018), InHospitable (2021), 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (2021), Sirens (2022)
