Calm
Date:
December 15, 2022
Calm
Calm
by Sara Fattahi
FreibeuterFilm | Austria
Les films de l’Altaï | France
Live-action feature
Logline
Twenty years after the war in Syria, Leila decides to leave behind her life in Vienna. She ends up in Beirut, hoping to return to her native Damascus. Between here and elsewhere, Leila’s sudden decision is greeted with concern.
Synopsis
Leila, a Syrian woman in her forties, lives in exile in Vienna. After a doomed relationship, she decides to have an abortion—a choice that upends her life. In her building, she repeatedly crosses paths with Marta, her elderly neighbor and Holocaust survivor. Their encounters grow into a strange, fragile connection.
Leila confides in her friend Chantal, a Spanish waitress haunted by her unfulfilled dream of motherhood. When Leila’s partner violently confronts her, she ends the relationship. Soon after, she finds Marta unconscious. Marta is hospitalized, and her behavior becomes increasingly erratic. During Leila’s visits, Marta’s personality transforms—brutal, unrecognizable.
Chantal, unraveling under the weight of her own despair, leaves Vienna. Leila, disoriented, finds no trace of Marta—doctors deny she ever existed. Alone, Leila decides to leave for Beirut, a gateway to her homeland.
Three imagined returns unfold: one ends with her vanishing at the Syrian border; another with her dead body washed ashore—while she also stands among the onlookers; the third with Marta reappearing in Beirut’s chaos, begging Leila to kill her. Feverish, hallucinating, Leila collapses.
Back in Vienna, her building is demolished. Rubble and dust replace memory and identity—lives that seem never to have existed.
Director’s Profile
Sara Fattahi studied law at Damascus University and graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Damascus. She worked as a storyboard artist and art director for various broadcasters such as Al Jazeera Kids and SpaceToon. Since 2010, she has been working as an independent director and producer of her documentary films. COMA, her first feature film (2015), won the Regard Neuf Award for Best First Film at Visions du Réel 2015 and the FIPRESCI Award at the Viennale 2015, and was screened at many festivals such as MoMA’s Doc Fortnight 2016, Berlin Critics’ Week 2016, and São Paulo 2016.
Her latest film, CHAOS (2018), won the Pardo d’oro from Cineasti del Presente for Best Film in Locarno, the Extra-VALUE Film Award at the 2018 Viennale, the Altered States Award at the 2018 Mar del Plata Festival, and many other awards. It also received the award for best feature film at Diagonale 2019 and was screened at many international festivals such as IDFA 2018 and MoMA’s Doc Fortnight 2019.
Company Profile
FreibeuterFilm was founded 2008 in Vienna to offer a platform for innovative, director-driven projects – fiction films and creative documentaries, focused on cinematic release. Under this banner more than 25 films have been produced,
most of them presented at an A-Festival. Recent films include GREAT FREEDOM (dir. Sebastian Meise, 2021), winner of Prix du Jury in Cannes – Un Certain Regard and shortlisted for Best International Film at the Oscars 2022, and HINTERLAND (dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2021) that received the Prix du Public UBS at Locarno IFF.
The most recent film THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE (dir. Mo Harawe, 2024) has celebrated its world premiere at
2024 selection of Cannes – Un Certain Regard. MOTHER’S BABY by Johanna Moder was part of Berlinale 2025 competition.