Press Kit - Memento Films International

A FILM ABOUT PEOPLE
SHAHADA is not a film about religion. It was never meant to be didactic. I
didn’t want to take the viewer’s hand and tell him: “Islam works in this or that
way”.
Rather, I wanted to tell stories about people. People who are, of course, part
of a certain community. And casually, I approached the subject of their shared
religion and culture, as well as the internal conflicts and contradictions that
come with being Muslim in Germany.
I wanted to make a film about people in crisis, in extreme situations.
A father-daughter story; a story of guilt and atonement; a story about the value
of one’s own life; a story about sexual awakening:
Stories that each spectator – independent of their religious belief – can relate to
and think: “I know this. I have felt that way too once.”
It was important for me to explore how the environment, socialization and
religion affect the characters, in a good or bad direction.
To broaden my statement: SHAHADA is not a film about religion. But the
religious affiliation of the characters influences their actions and their decisions
in a very certain way. It is about the path they choose.
This is the Shahada.