Cinema Tip | March
by Susanne Bieger (Festival Director, Curator, Dramaturge)
MOND
Written & Directed by: Kurdwin Ayub
In Theaters: March 27, 2025
The film begins in a combat sports ring. Mixed Martial Arts fighter Sahra, played by Florentina Holzinger, loses a match in front of rolling cameras. With no success to sustain her, her career in the ring comes to an abrupt end. Now, Sahra makes ends meet by teaching martial arts to girls while enduring the constant criticism of her sister, who complains about her supposed lack of direction and motivation, insisting that she must finally grow up and urgently needs a business plan.
An unexpected and lucrative offer from Jordan promises a break—perhaps even a fresh start. A wealthy businessman wants Sahra to train his daughters in MMA. Completely unprepared, she embarks on the journey and is initially overwhelmed: she finds herself accommodated in a luxury hotel with panoramic views and a dreamlike pool, has a chauffeur, and works in an opulent mansion surrounded by wealth and excess. But soon, Sahra starts feeling that something is off—the daughters, Nour (Andria Tayeh), Shaima (Nagham Abu Baker), and Fatima (Celina Antwan), show no interest in training. Instead, they prefer watching daily soaps or shopping in air-conditioned malls. The sisters live in complete isolation from the world, without Wi-Fi or phones, under constant surveillance by their brother and their father’s staff. Initially more curious than concerned, Sahra starts asking questions: Who is this family? What do these girls really want?
Once again, Kurdwin Ayub impresses with her singular, subversive perspective and distinctive cinematic storytelling. Casting Florentina Holzinger—performance artist, choreographer, and creator of SANCTA, who now serves as an artistic advisor at the Volksbühne—proves to be a stroke of genius. Through characters who appear reserved, even resigned, and navigate unfamiliar worlds, Ayub explores themes of female empowerment and solidarity while skillfully subverting the prevalent white-savior narrative. She eschews the usual aesthetic and narrative embellishments, instead playing deftly with genre expectations.
Ayub first garnered attention in 2022 with her feature film debut, which premiered in the Berlinale’s Encounters section and won the Best First Feature Award. Her second film, MOND, premiered in 2024 at the Locarno Film Festival in the Concorso Internazionale section, where it received the Special Jury Prize. With MOND, Ayub not only reaffirms her talent but also firmly establishes her place in cinema on the big screen.
MOND will be released in theaters on March 27, 2025.
Written & Directed by: Kurdwin Ayub
Cinematography: Klemens Hufnagl
Editing: Roland Stöttinger
Production Design: Julia Libiseller
Casting: Ulrike Putzer
Costume Design: Carola Pizzini
Sound: David Almeida-Ribeiro
Color Grading: Andi Winter
Re-Recording Mixers: Luise Hofmann, Frederik Thomsen
Supervising Sound Designer: Matz Müller
Production Manager: Steven Swirko
Head of Production: Bruno Wagner
Creative Producer: Susanne Marian
Associate Producer: Veronika Franz
Producer: Ulrich Seidl
Supported by the Austrian Film Institute and Film Fund Vienna
In collaboration with ORF Film/Television Agreement
Co-produced by ZDF/ARTE and ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel
In cooperation with Essential Films
© Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion GmbH