Having always lived dutifully under the dogma of others, Maryam, a middle-aged Pakistani woman, finally musters the courage to explore her latent needs. During a late-night encounter with Aisha, a young Muslim sex worker, she may be able to liberate her sexual desires and get a taste of a kind of intimacy that has always felt out of reach.
Anna Khaja delivers an exquisite performance as Maryam, fearlessly delving into the psyche of a woman who finds herself at a midlife impasse out of which no path comes without cost. Directed with insight and tenderness by Farah Jabir, and featuring a splendid supporting performance by Zina Louhaichy, Kasbi has just premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
Farah Jabir
The first time Farah Jabir (she/her) saw an exorcism, she was 8 years old, and so began a love affair with low-budget horror cinema; her gateway drug to indie filmmaking. Now based in New York City, she directs and produces documentary and narrative films, music videos, and commercials; and every now and then, when the stars align, she writes for television (please note that she has yet to work on anything scary). Jabir is a fellow at Film Independent’s Producing Lab and an alumna at Mentorship Matters (Amazon/Sony), The Thousand Miles Project (UCP), and the Asian-American Stories of Resilience program (PBS/A-Docs).
