Cochlea
Made in Qatar - Ajyal Film Festival 2024
Karim Emara / Qatar / 2024 / 8 min / Unknown / Unknown / In Arabic / Arabic, English subtitles
Themes:
Rated: 
Parental guidance is advised for viewers under the age of 15. Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or over.
Description
Rokia, a 50-year-old divorced Arab woman, reunites with her twenty-year-old son, Youssef, after six months apart. During their reunion, Rokia insists on performing a ritual she has often imposed on him: washing him. Youssef becomes increasingly frustrated as she washes his hair, scrubs his elbows, and cleans his ears. The ritual feels both mentally and physically painful to him. Despite his resistance, he begins to understand that his mother's unusual way of expressing love and care runs deeper than simply wanting him to be clean.
Director
Karim Emara
Karim Emara is an Egyptian-American filmmaker who graduated from Northwestern University in Qatar and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Media at Emerson College. Raised in multiple cultures, Emara navigated a layered identity as an Arab and Muslim in the United States and as a Westerner in Qatar. His experiences have inspired him to create films that explore complex identities and cultural dynamics. His recent short, ‘The Chandelier’ (2023), won a Best Film award in Qatar and was screened at multiple film festivals across the Middle East. Emara is currently developing his next film, ‘The AC’ (2024).
Credits
- Screenwriter
- Tala Bibi & Karim Emara
- Producer
- Sahar Bou Hamdan & Aya Al-Blouchi
- Cinematographer
- Yanis Cherif
- Cast
- Nour Hassan, Walid Jaber