MERET MADÖRIN
CINEMATOGRAPHER

SYNOPSIS
Parnia and Zeynab, two young heroines of Afghan origin, flee Iran with their families for Germany in 2015. This documentary follows the girls as they lay down their fragile roots in a new environment. Over the course of seven years, the girls show how they master their everyday lives amidst a network of tensions oscillating between family and society. THE GIRLS WHO RIDE DRAGONS is a film about the universal story of growing up and finding the own place in the world. Their story likewise tells about the process of adaptation and self-empowerment in a society that Parnia and Zeynab have adopted as their home. The film tackles the large questions of life: What does it mean to belong? How is the gap bridged between the ambitions and expectations of their parents and their own desires? What does it mean to be autonomous? The film is my tribute to the efforts of my mother and sister and engagement with the resilience that comes from the daily struggle of women and girls to gain respect and self-autonomy.


JURY STATEMENT FIRST STEPS AWARD
How do you manage to make a film that opens up a world many only know from negative headlines? You accompany these people, who fight for their status and recognition every day, creating a closeness that breaks with clichés. You accompany them for years. Stay tuned in for all the ups and downs, the endless wait for asylum status, and witness how two girls from Afghanistan grow into self-confident people and seize an equal place for themselves in their German environment. Without pointing fingers, without accusation, without judgment - and that is exactly what takes a stance, which is essential in the documentary format. The director and the outstanding camera and editing team always treat all protagonists with respect and empathy at eye level and give us an emotional journey in which they and their families grow so close to our hearts that we hope that this country will enable them to have an equally respectful and empathetic future.