Liya (Mina Sadic), Jan (Sasun Sayan), and Alan (Murat Seven) travel across Kurdistan with their mother’s dead body in tow. Born in the Kurdish area of Iraq, the three estranged siblings were raised in Germany and have returned only to fulfill their mother’s final request to be buried next to their father, a soldier who was killed by Saddam Hussein’s regime. This task, though, is easier said than done, as their mother’s extended family disapproves of this final resting place. As they unravel the reasons why, Liya, Jan, and Alan rediscover themselves, each other, and their contested homeland. House Without Roof uses a compelling family drama to illuminate social and political tensions in the region’s past and present.
Director Biography
Soleen Yusef was born in Duhok, Iraq. At the age of nine she and her family fled to Germany. Before making her first feature film, House Without Roof, she worked as a production assistant for Mîtosfilm. She currently lives and works between Kurdistan and Germany.
Sponsors
TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Mizna presents the twefth Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in partnership with the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. The Arab Film Fest showcases modern Arab cinema, featuring debut screenings of independent narrative, documentary, and experimental features and shorts.