UPIKE Film and Media Arts to host screening for ‘Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf’ as part of Southern Circuit Film Series

The University of Pikeville Film and Media Arts program is proud to present a screening of the feature-length narrative film “Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf” as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. In addition to a screening of the film, attendees will be able to participate in a Q&A with writer and director Susan Youssef. The free event is open to the public and will be held on Wednesday, September 18 at 6 p.m., in the Health Professions Education Building’s seventhfloor pavilion.

The film is set in 2006 in Arkansas where Marjoun attends high school at Little Rock Central, a school that received nationwide attention during the fight for civil rights with the Little Rock Nine. As her generation’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” Marjoun confronts her identity as a Muslim in a post-9/11 conformist yet changing multicultural America.

Marjoun asserts herself by wearing a headscarf even as her father is imprisoned in Lebanon for alleged connections to Hezbollah. Tensions rise as she deals with normal teenage problems while working to secure her father’s release. As her hopes dim, Marjoun takes off on her motorcycle searching for what it means to be free, awake and liberated.

The filmmaker, Youssef is also the writer and director of the film Habibi and is a Fox Studios Directing Fellow. 

The event at UPIKE is made possible through the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, a South Arts program. Since its inception in 1975, Southern Circuit has brought some of the best independent filmmakers and their films from around the country to communities throughout the South. The program is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

About South Arts
South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, addresses the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrates the excellence, innovation, value and power of the arts of the South. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.