Mond

Austrian martial-arts fighter Sarah's not too successful sporting career is all but over. Even before the now void becomes a problem, she is approached by a wealthy businessman from Jordan: would she like to train his three teenage sisters in Amman for a month? That seems like a good idea to her, but once in Jordan, the three sisters turn out to be only interested in soaps and make-up, the training leaves them cold. Sarah notices that the sisters never go outside, that there is no wifi and that they are educated at home. Naturally, the girls yearn for more space and freedom, Sarah is dragged into it.

Kurdish-Austrian director Kurdwin Ayub, a protegee of the ever-controversial director Ulrich Seidl, made 2022's Sonne, which was offensive to some, in which three Muslim girls, dressed in a niqab, made a film in which they danced to a song by R.E.M. In Mond, she pairs criticism of stifling patriarchal ideology with thriller-like elements.