Completed - DUTCH, ARABIC, MOROCCAN - Drama - 98 minutes
18-year-old Layla, a Dutch girl with Moroccan roots joins a group of radical Muslims. She encounters a world that nurtures her ideas initally, but finally confronts her with an impossible choice.
Year of production : 2016 Director(s) : Mijke DE JONG Writer(s) : Jan EILANDER, Mijke DE JONG Cast : Nora EL KOUSSOUR, Ilias ADDAB Producer(s) : Frans VAN GESTEL (Topkapi Films), Arnold HESLENFELD (Topkapi Films), Laurette SCHILLINGS (Topkapi Films)
Layla is an 18-year old girl, born and raised in Amsterdam. Layla is smart, witty and stubborn – and of Moroccan background. In the times of constant terrorist threat, she struggles with the increasing suspicion towards girls with headscarves and boys with beards that she witnesses every day. While her frustration grows, her faith intensifies. She joins a group of radical Muslims who fight for their practise of Islam. Layla posts films online depicting the horrors in Syria and Gaza and makes political flyers. And she flirts with the charismatic Abdel. When her peaceful brother and she are arrested by the police, Layla, feeling hurt and isolated in her anger, is left with only one option: to leave home. She chooses marriage, with Abdel. After their wedding, Layla and Abdel roam the country together, perform ‘missionary work’, and raise money for the good cause. But then they get involved in a shootout between a group of young jihadists and the Belgian police, they have to flee, to the Middle East.Layla encounters a world that nurtures her ideas initially, but finally confronts her with an impossible choice.
Country(ies) : NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, GERMANY, JORDAN
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Toronto - TIFF 2016 Platform