WORTH WATCHING

Watch: Short Doc 'Wifi Rider' About a Palestinian Fashion Designer

by Alex Billington
August 5, 2021
Source: YouTube

"I was that kid at school who was into strange songs and odd singers." I'm always thankful for the power of cinema to bring us stories from places I've never been and don't know that much about. Wifi Rider is one of these distinct stories, about a young Palestinian fashion designer named Shukri, spending most of his time with his online persona. "What he desperately wants is to connect with others like him, who feel caught between an occupation, globalisation, and the universal growing pains that come with adulthood. In this 16mm documentary film, we follow Shukri from a childhood in East Jerusalem to moving to the hillside apartments of Amman, Jordan and the sandy shores of the Dead Sea." This originally premiered at film festivals last year and is now available to watch online. It was initially shot throughout 2018 and 2019, shot on 16mm film to capture "the colour, texture and sensitivity through which Shukri sees the world." This is a very moving, really lovely short that's authentically capturing the lives of young people in the Middle East.

Thanks to Short of the Week for this one. Brief synopsis: "Life is lonely for young Palestinian, Shukri. He spends his days on the internet, immersed in a world where Western popstars preach self-love, to forget the discrimination he faces in everyday life. But dreaming of a life abroad does not bode well for a teenager stuck in East Jerusalem." Wifi Rider is directed by British filmmaker Roxy Rezvany of Iranian-Malaysian-Chinese descent. You can see more of her work on Vimeo or visit her official website and follow her on IG @roxyrezvany. She also made the award-winning short film Little Pyongyang previously. Produced by Roxy Rezvany. With cinematography by Isaac Eastgate & Jaime Ackroyd, and a score by Matt Huxley. "Shot on 16mm, over the course of three trips to Amman across 2018 and 2019, and integrated Shukri's own archive also. Shooting on film for a story like this was about showing audiences the colour, texture and sensitivity through which Shukri sees the world." For more info, visit SOTW or Vimeo. To see more shorts, click here.

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