Habi, the Foreigner

• Director: María Florencia Álvarez
• Cast: Martina Juncadella, Martín Slipak, María Luisa Mendonça, Lucía Alfonsín
• Language: Spanish
• Theatrical Release Date:

Synopsis: Analía’s mother sends her to Buenos Aires to deliver some handicrafts. She is expected to return home quickly to the country town where she is to take on her family’s hairdressing salon. But by chance an address mix-up leads her to a Muslim community where she finds herself taking part in a ritual completely unknown to her. She is given several objects which seem to harbour a mysterious message: these include a tunic, a map and a recipe in Farsi. Enthralled by the new world she has entered, Analía decides on the spur of the moment to take on another identity. She rents a room nearby and, coming across the name ‘Habiba Rafat’ in the personal ads one day, chooses this as her new name. She decides to learn how to speak this strange language, pray like a Muslim, find a job and make new friends. She is determined to find out what it means to be somebody else. Director María Florencia Álvarez’s film takes for its subject the invention of a new identity; her protagonist oscillates between her fear of discovery and her fascination for a new and unknown world. When Habi meets a young Lebanese man she finds herself obliged to make her next big decision. [Courtesy of Berlinale]