A Fox Under a Pink Moon (+AD)

For five years, 16-year-old Soraya Akhalaghi filmed key moments of her life on a mobile phone. During this time, she created striking drawings and sculptures while attempting to escape Iran, fleeing a violent husband to join her mother in Austria. The director gives Soraya a voice, abandoning a traditional documentary structure in favor of a form built on images, gestures, and symbols. As a result, she simultaneously becomes the protagonist, co-creator, and narrator of her own story. Recurring motifs of the fox and the pink moon – present both in the film sequences and Soraya’s artwork – construct a poetic language in which fantasy and reality intertwine, creating a space for escape and resistance. Built from fragments of the protagonist’s personal archive and directed entirely remotely, the film sits at the intersection of artistic cinema and autobiographical essay. It explores questions of identity, migration, and freedom, as well as the need for artistic expression as a means of survival. Here, art becomes not only a tool for storytelling but also a symbol of freedom and escape, as well as a way to reclaim agency and dignity.