Vollverschleiert (Some Like It Veiled, Cherchez la femme) 
France
2017
Opening 28 Dec 2017
Directed by:
Sou Abadi
Writing credits:
Sou Abadi
Principal actors:
Félix Moati, William Lebghil, Camélia Jordana, Anne Alvaro, Predrag Miki Manojlovic
In the French comedy Some Like it Veiled (Voll Verschleiert), director Sou Abadi confronts us with a topic that we typically are not prepared to talk about. When we see a woman covered in a hijab, we assume several things, i.e., that her husband made her do it or we think that the person is uneducated and can’t speak any language except Arabic. Typically we ignore them and certainly would not make eye contact or talk to them. In essence, they are invisible.
This film confronts us with all those preconceived prejudges and makes fun of us while we fall into each of the holes that director Abadi digs for us. It is a hilarious film, but also an important one, since it teaches us a lesson about tradition and the breaking of tradition.
Armand (Moati) and Leila (Jordana) have been a couple for quite a while now and are planning to go to New York City for an apprenticeship at the United Nations. Suddenly, Leila’s brother Mahmoud (Lebghil) arrives from Yemen after being religiously re-educated in the strictest way, and they are in for a big surprise. Due to his extreme Muslim ideas, Lelia’s freedom shrinks before her eyes, until Amand comes up with a crazy idea to get close to his beloved Lelia. But is it enough to get Mahmoud out of the way? This showed to great success at the 2017 Filmfest Hamburg. (Shelly Schoeneshoefer)
