Let’s Talk

In intimate conversations with her daughter (and fellow filmmaker) Sara, director Marianne Khoury explores subjects such as motherhood, identity and ancestry. She frames Sara in the vertical orientation so closely associated with the iPhone generation. When Sara suggests rotating the camera to film Marianne, the frame shifts back to the customary landscape orientation. The dialogue between mother and daughter is the leitmotif of this loosely and informally composed portrait of four generations of the filmmaker’s family, which has its origins in the Levant region. The key figures are Marianne’s mother Iris, who the outside world regards as a charismatic, beautiful woman, but who actually suffered from depression; Marianne's grandmother; her brothers; an aunt; and “Uncle Joe,” the celebrated Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. Images from the family archive and excerpts from Chahine’s autobiographical feature films complete this family portrait, an intimate and personal film that also raises universal themes about constrictive familial ties, unconditional love and everything in between. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)