MOND

Sarah (Florentina Holzinger), a martial artist from Austria, takes on an assignment in Jordan after the end of her career: for one month she is to train the three sisters of a wealthy businessman as their personal trainer. The young women live in a palatial villa they rarely leave, and what begins as fitness training becomes, for Sarah, an encounter with a household whose rules she does not understand. The sisters look to her as an ally, and Sarah must decide how far she is willing to get involved. “Mond” by the Austrian director Kurdwin Ayub (Austria, 2024) tells of a stranger who must find her way inside a gilded cage.

Ayub, born in Iraq and brought to Austria as a child, refuses any easy reading in her second feature: the trainer is no saviour, nor are the sisters merely victims. The film premiered at Locarno 2024, where it received the Special Jury Prize and the Europa Cinemas Label. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2024.

Shown at the 2024 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

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