A middle-aged woman having sex— Who knew it would be so radical?
Kasbi is a short film that explores sexuality and the search for self-identity.
Does desire disappear with age? Is it ever too late to become the person you want to be?
Unfolding during an erotically charged meeting between its Muslim South Asian and Arab protagonists, the film combines romance-drama and the tragically comedic.
KASBI (WHORE)
A woman who practices unlawful sexual commerce, especially one who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a harlot. Intransitive. V. To have unlawful sexual intercourse; to practice lewdness.
The use of the title Kasbi (Urdu) is an aim to subvert; to reclaim a label so often used to oppress.
Kasbi explores the central question:
Is it ever too late to be the person that you want to be?
At face value, Maryam and Aisha are polar opposites: Maryam is older and at odds with herself. Her desires have always been a second-thought, having lived so long by the dogma of others. Aisha is younger and unburdened by the missed opportunities and disappointments that come with age. As a sex worker, Aisha has developed a practice of externalizing her desire, however this has waxed and waned performatively---sometimes her boundaries are too easily eroded. By the end of the film, Maryam and Aisha learn that they can find intimacy, connection and understanding together, even if it's just for one night.
Our story follows a middle-aged Pakistani housewife, Maryam, in search of herself and desperate to fulfill her sexual needs, who meets a self-assured sex worker, Aisha, in a motel room for the night.
WHY THIS FILM MATTERS
On screen, midlife crises, extramarital affairs, and queer romance are the privileges of the white male protagonist. The sexuality of Brown women is relegated to the side lines, often fetishized or erased completely. Brown women in Western media have been defined by a binary; liberated or repressed, instigator or victim, desirous or shameful.
But binaries inevitably lead us to two fates: Brown woman protagonists can either transgress the binary or conform to it. Even the Kamasutra once embraced queerness and sexual fluidity until it was taught otherwise. What agency does this actually leave these characters? What kind of life is there for a character who is constantly caught between two oppositional fates?
It is here that independent cinema---and the often grass roots support for it---becomes essential. Kasbi and our protagonists Maryam and Aisha are an ode not only to Brown women, imperfect women, and women who are for the first time exploring their desires, but to the ineluctable beauty of the stories which have been most ignored, repressed, and choked behind stereotype. It is a means of documenting a demographic that is very real and unapologetic despite the nuances of their cultural identities.
If you need this film, it is for you.
“I am drawn to the gray areas of life—experiences that are so nuanced that you are left questioning: What is good? What is bad? What is wrong? What is right? I am drawn to the moments that exist outside these binaries and to characters who find themselves at moral crossroads where no path comes without cost.”
- Dir. Farah Jabir
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
To help bring this story to life we are looking for donors to contribute the remaining funds needed for production.
A large portion of donations will be used for the compensation of our consulting sex worker, workshops with our intimacy coordinator, and to prioritize our select locations. We’re also seeking funds for production design and picture vehicle rental to help build the world of this story as authentically, safely and respectfully as possible.
Sex worker consultation (2.5%) ● Food & Lodging (4.5%) ● Travel (14.2%) ● Location (9%) ● PD, Wardrobe, HMU (9%) ● Distribution (18.1%) ● Cast (6.6%) ● Insurance (2.7%) ● Intimacy Director (1.8%) ● Camera (5.4%) ● Post Production (26%)
