Biyograficim
En Sevdiğim Kumaş

My Favourite Fabric (Mon tissu préféré)

Movie · 2018 · 12 people

My Favourite Fabric (French Mon tissu préféré, Turkish En Sevdiğim Kumaş) is the feature debut of the Syrian director Gaya Jiji, who drew on personal memories from her years of exile in Paris. The 2018 drama is in Arabic and was co-produced by France, Germany and Turkey. It runs about 94 minutes, was shown in the Un Certain Regard section of the 71st Cannes Film Festival and reached Turkish cinemas on 7 June 2019.

The story takes place in Damascus in 2011, as Syria slides toward civil war. Nahla (Manal Issa), 25, is suffocated by her traditional life and wants freedom. Her hope is an arranged marriage to Samir, a Syrian immigrant living in the United States, but he picks her more docile sister Myriam instead. Nahla grows close to Jiji, a mysterious new neighbour. She learns that Jiji runs a brothel and, entering a world she never knew, begins to rediscover herself.

Jiji wrote the screenplay with Eiji Yamazaki, and the director also appears as Nahla's colleague. Many crew members came from Turkey, and the film tries to portray a young woman's inner world in wartime in a surreal manner. One critic found it insufficient, writing that the story never fully conveys Nahla's inner world.

DirectorGaya Jiji

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Cast

Manal Issa Manal Issa Actor · born 1992 Ula Tabari Metin Akdülger Metin Akdülger Actor · 38 years old Gaya Jiji Saad Lostan Wissam Fares Mariah Tannoury Nathalie Issa Souraya Baghdadi Rand Raslan Hala Sayasne Amani Ibrahim

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Gaya Jiji's debut feature tries to render a woman's inner world in Damascus on the brink of war in a surreal register, and its selection for Un Certain Regard at Cannes shows the ambition was taken seriously. In my view, though, the film does not fully carry it. The surreal choices risk blurring Nahla rather than opening her up, which is why one critic's remark that the story never fully conveys her inner world seems fair. Even so, the idea of squeezing the war outside into the narrow frame of a relationship between neighbours is bold and striking for a first film. That the director co-wrote the script and steps in front of the camera in a small role also signals how personal the project is.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film tells the story of Syria sliding into civil war in 2011 not from the front line but from the life of a young woman hemmed in by family and marriage. The arranged marriage, the emigrant suitor seen as a way out, and the final choice of the more docile sister lay bare how far women's freedom depends on family decisions. The director's memories of her years of exile in Paris give the story personal weight. By focusing on an individual's urge to rediscover herself while the country falls apart, it opens a different window from the usual war narrative.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is not a film to sit down and watch as a family. Part of the story takes place in the world of a brothel, and it deals with heavy subjects such as women's freedom and war. It is not suitable for children or teenagers. Adults, especially those who like serious dramas about women's lives, may want to consider it. If you are looking for something the whole household can relax with in the evening, pick something else.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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