Still from Baab: two people in pale clothes lie close together on a rug and cushions in a dim, wood-panelled room.

BAAB

97

Minutes

Directed by:

Nayla Al Khaja

Starring:

Shaimaa El Fadul Huda Alghanem Meera Almidfa Mansoor Monem Saeed Mohamed Alnoamani Sabiha Majgaonkar Elham Al Marzooqi

Synopsis

In Arabic, 'baab' means doorway, and in Nayla Al Khaja's dark fantasy, it’s the threshold to familial secrets as a woman reels from the sudden death of her twin sister. Wahida (Shaimaa El Fadul) struggles with the eerie hum of tinnitus in her left ear, a condition which ropes her into a surreal world where grief takes on physical form. Soundtracked by two-time Oscar winner A.R. Rahman and helmed by the UAE’s first female director, BAAB marks a milestone in Emirati cinema.

We are delighted to welcome screenwriter Toby Venables for a Q&A following the screening on Sunday 25 October.

Still from Baab: two women in a dim room, one in a long pale gown and one in a blue top, with a shower head on the wall behind them.
Still from Baab: two people in pale clothes lie close together on a rug and cushions in a dim, wood-panelled room.
Still from Baab: two girls in pale robes sit on the floor of a dim bedroom, one with her hands raised to her mouth.
Still from Baab: an older woman in a patterned yellow dress sits on a gold sofa with two children, while another person stands at the edge of the frame.
Still from Baab: a large grey bird perched behind thin vertical bars.
Still from Baab: an older woman in a pale headscarf sits on a bench in a courtyard while another woman kneels in front of her beside a blue basin.
Still from Baab: an older woman in a white headscarf sits in an armchair while a child lies upside down on a patterned sofa.