World Premiere
Writer-director Brishkay Ahmed’s In the Room is a visually stunning, informative, and deeply personal exploration of cultural identity and resilience. Told from Ahmed’s perspective as an Afghan expat, the film traces her journey from rejecting her heritage — which she initially connected with victimhood — to embracing it in a celebration of the heroism of Afghan women.
Featuring documentary subjects Nelofer Pazira-Fisk, Vida Samadzai, Sahar Parniyan, Mozhdah Jamalzadeh, and Shogofa Sediqi, Ahmed’s film weaves images of the past and present into intimate interviews, creating a rich, layered portrait of these women’s lives. The subjects’ voices are compelling and heartfelt, making the experiences both powerful and urgent, and Ahmed’s cinematography captures the raw beauty of these stories, reflecting 35 years of courage and perseverance. In the Room is an important film that reminds us that human rights are fragile and must be actively protected.
Oct 7 & 10: Q&A
Supported by
Community Partner
Canada
2025
In English, Dari and Farsi with English subtitles
Gender or sexual discrimination
Open to youth
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Shirley Vercruysse
Producer
Teri Snelgrove
Screenwriter
Brishkay Ahmed
Cinematography
Diana Parry
Editor
Jessica Dymond
Original Music
Zhovan Zoleikhapour
Brishkay Ahmed
Brishkay Ahmed is a documentary filmmaker whose projects have been supported by the NFB, CBC, Super Channel, RTA, Bravo, and Cinema Politica. Her feature documentary, In the Rumbling Belly of Motherland, was a nominee for the 2021 DGC Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary and won the Outstanding Feature Film Award at the 2021 Reelworld Film Festival. Additionally, Ahmed is the creator and co-director of the Afghan prime-time legal drama Between You and Me for Tolo TV, and worked as a writer and director on several police and legal procedurals in Kabul from 2011 to 2019.
Filmography: Story of Burqa: Case of a Confused Afghan (2012); Unveiled: The Kohistan Video Scandal (2016); In the Rumbling Belly of Motherland (2021)
Photo by Angel Lynne
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Concrete Land
Filmed over eight years, Concrete Land follows the Najar family, one of Jordan’s last Afro-Palestinian-Bedouin families, as luxury villas close in on their grazing space outside Amman. Asmahan Bkerat preserves their way of life in the face of erasure.
Farruquito: a Flamenco Dynasty
Legendary flamenco dancer Farruquito struggles to reconcile his past with his family legacy. Revelling in the artistry of Romani music and dance, Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty explores family dynamics and the pursuit of greatness.
La Gradiva
Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, Marine Atlan's feature debut follows a class of French high-school students on a trip to Naples. While learning about the ruins of Pompeii by day, a different kind of education takes place at night.
Image: © Films du poisson, Bibi Film TV, Arte France Cinema
Short Forum 3: Workers of the World
The grind of the working class in a system that betrays its promises.
Nina Roza
Mihail, a contemporary art expert, has been living in Montreal since he left Bulgaria with his daughter almost thirty years ago. When he is commissioned to authenticate the work of an 8-year-old painting prodigy, he returns to Bulgaria for the first time.