Rumi | A Budding Actress Experiences the Problems with a Troubling Industry.
When Rumi, a budding actress, is scouted by an agent and invited to an open casting call, she comes face to face with a deeply problematic and troubling industry.
A selection of Short of the Week, the web's leading curators of quality short films.
✨ JOIN US ON SHORTVERSE: https://www.shortverse.com/
🎬 SUBMIT A FILM: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/submit/
📷 Rumi
Dir. Aisha Amin
www.aishaamin.com
Rumi is a young aspiring actress, so when she gets street cast and invited to a photoshoot, how could she possibly turn that opportunity down? However, the confidence boost that comes from that recognition slowly turns into an insidious humiliation. In Rumi, writer/director Aisha Amin cleverly sheds light on one of the many problematic sides of the fashion industry, with a subtle approach that grasps her titular character’s emotional journey through that experience.
When we asked Amin what prompted her to pen the screenplay, she shared with us that what initiated the project was the hypocrisy of “the emergence of headscarves in a number of designer collections” at a Paris Fashion Week, when religious signs, thus hijabs, are forbidden in French schools. “Making Rumi was my attempt to investigate the experience of being a Muslim woman in an industry built around appearances, performance and tokenism”, she added. Following some research into the modeling world, Amin discovered that “certain behaviors are pushed under the rug in the name of ‘fashion’” and from there her narrative was born. - S/W Curator, Céline Roustan
FULL REVIEW: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2023/0...
CAST + CREW
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY AISHA AMIN
PRODUCED BY ANNIE NING & CAMERON MORTON
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: MEETRA JAVED & UNDERHILL FIILM
STARRING
Zina Louhaichy
Annalisa Plumb
Casting Agent 1: Dillon Wilson
Casting Agent 2: Hillary Sproul
Photographer: Taylor Hewett
Make-Up Artist: Tenzing Kalden
Receptionist: Kerrie Lynn Yang
Muslim Model: ML Hassan
Drama Teacher: Denis Lambert
Drama Students: Mengyuan Li, Sherif Ibrahim, Sonia Desai-Reyka, Aalisha Jaisinghani, Olivia McMillan, Camille Williams-Ginsberg, Travis Sproul
MODELS: CHLOE WORTHINGTON, TAYLOR HENNINGS, IEDA FAVO, MARIA VIMANN, SADIE MILLER, ZHOE FLORATOS, MEETRA JAVED
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANTHONY CARELLA
PRODUCTION DESIGN AND COSTUME: HILLARY SPROUL
EDITOR: JAMIE LANSDOWNE
GFX: KERVIN MORALES
FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: MARYAM MIR
LINE PRODUCER: CAMERON MORTON
PRODUCTION SOUND: HARRY FLAX AND CHARLES CUTLER
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHY: SHAAN RAO
1ST AC: JOSHUA CATUBIG
2ND AC: MAISIE GIBB
GAFFER: OMAR NASR
KEY GRIP: RASHED SALEH AND JARED HERRMANN
STEADICAM OP: BRENDAN POUTIER
SET DRESSER: TRAVIS SPROUL
HAIR AND MAKE-UP: ISABEL BENINCASA READE AND TENZING KALDEN
COVID COMPLIANCE OFFICER: ELLIS FINNEY
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Camille Williams-Ginsberg, Olivia McMillan, Cricket Brown, Sonia Desai Rayka, Aalisha Jaisinghani, Koko Folo, Arsalan Amin, Tim O'Shea
SOUND DESIGN: ANTHONY CAPPELLINO
MUSIC: MICHAEL BEHARIE
COLOR: JOSH BOHOSKEY at Visual Creatures
Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmakers.
