Feel-good fantasy in which a Djinn falls in love with a woman but is forbidden to interact with her.
Hwjn and his family are Djinns forced to live unseen in the human dimension. Their lives are turned upside-down when a woman – a human! – buys their home. Forbidden by ancient laws to interact with her, Hwjn is fascinated and unwittingly falls in love. When he breaks the rules, he discovers the truth about his heritage.
Most contemporary Djinn-themed films are horrorfilms in which Djinns are violent beings that kill on command, kind of like contract killers. Not in Hwjn! Here, we see the world of the Djinns portrayed as a normal parallel universe of sorts, in which different Djinn tribes co-exist. The storyline, after a best-selling novel from Saudi author Ibraheem Abbas, is at its core a love story but develops into a search for identity in modern-day Saudi Arabia – and in the world of the Djinns. Hwjn is an example of the way Saudi Arabia has started opening itself up to film and cinema recently.
Thursday 31 October: Mezrab Storytellers on Djinn - Raffi Feghali (Lebanon)
Five of our Djinn shows will be accompanied by a Djinn story told by a Mezrab, House of Stories storyteller. The Thursday 31 October screening of Hwjin will be introduced by Lebanese theatre maker, peacebuilding consultant, and trainer Raffi Feghali. Feghali works mostly in Europe, USA, and the Middle East while being based between Amsterdam and Beirut. As a theatre maker, he draws on the meeting point of improvisational theatre (improv) and storytelling (especially rooted in the 'hakawati' tradition) in order to inspire his performing, writing, directing/devising, radio dramas, sound design, and music. He is a member of the Lincoln Theater Center Directors Lab 2018.
Mythos: Djinn Stories
Raffi's story will be connected to the four other Djinn stories told at Imagine for a special programme at Mezrab in Amsterdam titled Mythos: Djinn Stories. This event will take place on Tuesday 29 October from 20.00 till 22.30.
