Film screening of "Sonne" + Virtual Q&A with Director Kurdwin Ayub, a Transnational Film Series

Event Image
Three women are shown in a split-screen composition under pink and purple lighting, each appearing to sing. The woman on the left wears a headscarf, the center woman sings into a microphone, and the woman on the right has long blonde hair. Large yellow text reading “SONNE” overlays the bottom of the image.

Women’s History Month Special 
FILM SCREENING "SONNE" (2022) and VIRTUAL Q&A with Director Kurdwin Ayub
German with English subtitles

Synopsis: Yesmin, Nati, and Bella, three teenage girls from Vienna, twerk in hijab and sing a pop song. A YouTube video of it makes them famous overnight, especially among Yesmin's Kurdish Muslim community. Yesmin begins to distance herself more and more from her culture, while Nati and Bella seem fascinated by a world that is strange to them. A film about young people caught between social media and self-discovery, a story of rebellious young women.

Bio: Kurdwin Ayub (born 1990 in Iraq) is a director, writer, and artist based in Vienna. Her first narrative feature SONNE (2022) won the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and earned her a nomination at the 35th European Film Awards. Her second feature MOON (2024) premiered in competition at the Locarno Film Festival, where it received the Special Jury Prize. It was also nominated for a European Film Award.

This interdisciplinary series centers transnational and intersectional perspectives and aligns closely with university-wide initiatives connected to Women’s History Month, disability studies, Black Europe and Postmigrant Europe, and global cultural engagement.

Series Organizers

  • Elisabetta Sanino D’Amanda – Italian Studies
  • Rebecca Schaefer – German Studies

Co-sponsors: Conable Chair in Global Futures Program, Kern Chair in School of Communication, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, School of Film and Animation, and School of Individualized Studies

Light food and refreshments will be served.

Please submit interpreting requests to myAccess.rit.edu.


Contact
Rebecca Schaefer
Event Snapshot
When and Where
March 18, 2026
3:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Room/Location: EAS 4155
Who

This is an RIT Only Event

Interpreter Requested?

No

Topics
diversity
faculty
games, film, and digital media
global engagement
staff
student clubs and organizations
student experience
technology, the arts, and design
women