A man falls from the sky into a deserted field with nothing but a lamb in a suitcase and an engagement ring in his pocket. Disorientated, he embarks on a city-wide journey towards his arranged marriage with a woman he has never met. The road to the protagonist’s wedding is fatalistic and peppered with allegorical depictions of the nature of manhood and, as foreshadowed by the bleating lamb, sacrifice.
Madja Amin, this film’s director, says, “The dilemmas that the protagonist faces are symbolic of loss and the choices newcomers must make when establishing an identity in foreign lands.” As the son of Iraqi-Kurdish refugees, Amin has commented on how his work draws on themes of belonging and identity in relation to geographical connection. “So many people are caught in a balancing act between multiple cultures and surroundings,” Amin continues. “The quest for human connectedness is really at the heart of this narrative and I wanted to address this in a layered and complex way.”
With just three years of self-taught filmmaking experience, Amin has already made a name for himself as one of Amsterdam’s rising talents. After directing projects for brands such as KLM, Vodafone and Samsung, he partnered with the Dutch production company, Halal to produce Stray Sheep—his first ever short film. Stray Sheep premiered at Netherlands Film Festival in 2018 and was fittingly submitted to the Golden Calf short documentary category.
___
Subscribe to NOWNESS here: http://bit.ly/youtube-nowness
Like NOWNESS on Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebook-nowness
Follow NOWNESS on Twitter: http://bit.ly/twitter-nowness
Daily exclusives for the culturally curious: http://bit.ly/nowness-com
Behind the scenes on Instagram: http://bit.ly/instagram-nowness
Curated stories on Tumblr: http://bit.ly/tumblr-nowness
Inspiration on Pinterest: http://bit.ly/pinterest-nowness
Staff Picks on Vimeo: http://bit.ly/vimeo-nowness
Subscribe on Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/nowness
Follow NOWNESS on Google+: http://bit.ly/google-nowness
