Private Project

Red Threads

Nadia a village girl, escapes her home with her boyfriend of a different religion, Hasan. She runs away leaving everything behind seeking a new life where she can find love, independency, and freedom. However, obstacles are thrown her way: her fear of being found by her family, her inability of pursuing her career, and her attachment to her old life. She somehow figures out how to disentangle all the threads and compromise between her new life and the old one. She chose her fate but she will always remain a mix of both worlds.

  • Ranim Abdel Khalek
    Director
  • Ranim Abdel Khalek
    Writer
  • Jennifer Harran
    Producer
    Line Producer
  • Nadia Ahmad
    Producer
    Executive Producer
  • Dima Al Ansari
    Producer
    Supervising Producer
  • Dana Haidar Ahmad
    Producer
    Associate Producer
  • Marilyne Naaman
    Key Cast
    "Nadia"
  • Pio Chihane
    Key Cast
    "Hasan"
  • Aliya Khalidi
    Key Cast
    "Rita (neighbor)"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    خيوط حمراء
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Romance, Drama
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 5, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Lebanon
  • Country of Filming:
    Lebanon
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - LOYAC Film Camp 2020
  • LOYAC Lebanon Film Camp 2020
    Beirut
    Lebanon
    May 29, 2021
    Best Art Direction - Best Editing
  • LIFF - Lebanese Independent Film Festival
    Beirut
    Lebanon
    September 15, 2021
    Local
    Best local short narrative - Selection
  • Venice Shorts
    Venice, Los Angeles
    United States
    North American
    Best Indie Short - Semi Finalist
  • Women's Film Festival San Diego
    San Diego, California
    United States
    Women Directed Films (shorts) - Selection
  • Josiah Media Festival
    San Antonio, Texas
    United States
    Selection
Director Biography - Ranim Abdel Khalek

Ranim Abdel Khalek is a film director and screenwriter, who majored in Cinema and TV in the Lebanese University, Faculty of Arts. Her passion in capturing spontaneous and vulnerable moments pushed her into falling in love with the art of visual storytelling. Ranim participated in LOYAC's Film Camp 2020, where she wrote and directed her first short film "Red Threads". She has worked on several local short films as Assistant Director and Art Director. She's also a freelance photographer, videographer, editor and social media content creator.

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Director Statement

Storytelling, for me, is not only the most beautiful form of art, but it’s also therapy. Regardless whether you receive a story in a book or a painting or a song or a film, there’s always someone behind it trying to say something, trying to send a message, or even a cry for help. To tell a story is to get something off your chest, smack it on a table and cook it. Then you get to choose what condiments to add to it before feeding it to the audience. And that’s the beauty of it. You get to choose what you want people to feel.
‘Red Threads’ revolves around the difficult journey of a Druze girl and a Shia guy who are in love in a world that doesn’t allow them to be. From running away together to trying to build a life, a home, as they suffer from letting go of their toxic communities. What seems to be a love story between two people from different religions is more than that for me. It’s about the bravery of letting go of everything you’ve ever known, following your heart, and fighting the obstacles that come your way. It’s about detaching and disentangling all the threads tying you down.
This story is inspired by all the girls and boys that I know and don’t know, whether Druze or non-Druze, that have let go of their lives and ran away for love, for freedom. It’s dedicated to all those that got killed for doing that. With this story I want to send out a message: To always follow your heart and what feels right for you, even if your whole life you’ve been taught the opposite; to be brave enough to let go of what doesn’t represent you even if it’s all you’ve ever known.
With this film, I want to show our society its raw self, its true colors. I want to show them how their extremism and oppressiveness can bring pain and struggle to people that only want love and happiness. I want to speak to them through my film and say, ”These are your true colors, I hope you repaint yourself”.