Darin J. Sallam Confirms New Feature After 'Farha' Controversy
The filmmaker is developing 'Churching of Women' after her debut sparked diplomatic friction and global streaming success.
By Chloe Zhao ·
Darin J. Sallam is moving forward with her second feature film despite the intense scrutiny that followed her debut.
The Palestinian-Jordanian director is currently in advanced development and financing for 'Churching of Women.' This project follows 'Farha,' a film that depicted a Palestinian girl coming of age during the 1948 Nakba.
'Farha' premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2021. It was later selected as Jordan's submission for the international feature Oscar. The film subsequently streamed globally on Netflix.
The Netflix release triggered a fierce backlash. Israeli officials publicly condemned the production, specifically citing a scene where Israeli soldiers kill a Palestinian family. Sallam and other key figures involved in the film faced online harassment. Sallam has also been unable to travel to Palestine since the film's release.
Sallam states that she never regretted choosing the project. She argues that personal stories offer the clearest view of history and society. Her work focuses on women whose experiences have often been left out of historical narratives. She views the journey of the character Farha as a way to distill a collective event into a single human experience.
'Churching of Women' is set in 1938 across present-day Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The story follows Fadia, a female author who loses her parents. Her cousin supports her before seizing her inheritance and confining her to a mental asylum against her will. The project won the ArteKino International Award at the Busan Intl. Film Festival's Asian Project Market in 2025.
Sallam is using the lessons from the 'Farha' production, release, and distribution to shape the new film. She and her producers are analyzing how the previous experience can guide the journey of this new project. She says the experience has strengthened her resolve to bring stories to the world through cinema.
Sallam is currently serving on the narrative features jury at the 13th Sharjah Intl. Festival for Children and Youth in the UAE. She says watching young audiences engage with films has reinforced her belief in their emotional maturity. She notes that children and adolescents are not spectators to be underestimated because of their age.
Source: Variety
