Breaking Baz: Hot Sundance Movie ‘Brides’ Is About Schoolgirl Friendship, Not Terrorism, Says Director Nadia Fall

Notable artistic theater director Nadia Fall, who recently relocated from the Theatre Royal in Stratford East to manage the powerful Young Vic, has helmed her first feature film. The film, Brides, tells the story of two Muslim schoolgirls who flee their troubled homes and travel to Syria via Turkey. There, they join the Islamic state and volunteer to marry warring men.

It’s simple and lazy to assume that the two girls, Muna and Doe, who were brilliantly portrayed by Safiyya Ingar and Ebada Hassan, respectively, are simply children who are radicalized foot soldiers preparing to turn into terrorists. This is similar to the true story of Shamima Begum, who left Britain in 2015, traveled to Syria, and was married two weeks later, to a man who was later convicted of terrorism offenses.

Regarding Brides, Falls observes that although it feels like a hot potato, it isn’t heated or purposefully provocative.

Fall is a film about friendship that was thoughtfully and compassionately made by screenwriter Suhayla El-Bushra and producer Nicky Bentham, who first connected when they collaborated on a short film called Bush.

It truly examines the strength of schoolgirl friendship and the reasons behind Muna and Doe’s separation from their families.

I felt as though I was watching the children in my East London neighborhood because it was so tenderly made. They resembled kids we all know. Life is captured in the movie.

The film’s premiering at the Sundance Film Festival early Friday night at the Egyptian. DEADLINE report in details