Southampton Arts Center And Telluride Mountainfilm Presenting Sundance Film Festival Winner “Sonita”

Southampton Arts Center is thrilled to continue its successful partnership with the Telluride Mountainfilm by holding a special presentation of the award-winning documentary Sonita on Friday, March 10th at 7 p.m. Sonita, which is directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, made its North American Premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. It was also the Official Selection at Telluride Mountainfilm Festival later in 2016.

The film follows Sonita, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran who thinks of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of becoming a big-name rapper. Her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter, but her family has a very different plan in mind for her. Sonita is worth $9,000 as a bride.

“Sonita’s beats are as solid as stones, her rhymes are fierce, and her videos are a piercing howl against the constant injustice, fear, and sexism women must endure,” wrote the Sundance Jury. “Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining the next generation.”

Telluride Mountainfilm is one of America’s longest-running film festivals. Launched in 1979, the festival has been lauded for its “inspiring” lineup. Its mission is to use the power of film, art, and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world.

Admission to Sonita is $10.

Southampton Arts Center is located at 25 Jobs Lane in Southampton. For more information, call 631-283-0967 or visit southamptonartscenter.org.