Samira Saraya
That feeling of apprehension, of doubt - the sensation of butterflies before taking the plunge. Five women and the objects of their affection face up to their futures in these thoroughly modern tales of lesbian love from France, Germany, Israel, Italy and the UK. The richness and enthralling complexity of same-sex desire has never looked so inviting.
An omnibus film featuring nine works by emerging filmmakers of color, Who Will Start Another Fire is the inaugural project of Dedza Films, a distribution initiative focused on showcasing underrepresented communities and the next wave of international storytellers.
Samira Saraya is an Arab Israeli performer and musician who struggles to be accepted as a lesbian within the Arab community. Samira, a former nurse, who currently enjoys a rich stage and film career, has never invited her family to any of her performances. Such an invitation will lead her to discover whether she has their acceptance or not. Her upcoming show in Haifa, her hometown, featuring the Israeli hip-hop ensemble "System Ali", forces her to deal with the feeling of shame that follows her. She finally summoned up the courage to invite her family for the first time.
Yasmine, an openly lesbian Arab nurse, finds out that her lover, Or, an intelligence officer in the Israeli army has been reporting on their relationship. Yasmine's sister arrives for a visit from the West Bank, not knowing that she is going to meet the occupying enemy at her own sister's house.
Natalie, a small-town girl with big ambitions, and an equally big attitude, gets her first break in fashion, only to discover that her dreams come with a price to pay — in love, in her career and in her values — in this romantic comedy-drama set in the glamorous world of style and celebrities.
A delicate, poetic cinematic work, consisting of two parallel axes. Lenny Sadeh is a Tel Aviv based scholar who passes through the last day of her life. Yasmin Nasser, an Arab nurse who lives in Jaffa, is interrogated by the police. The worlds of these two women meet for a critical moment and bound together inseparably.
