Lily's Mecca
About the Film
In the 1990s, 7-year-old Lily’s world in Mecca begins to fracture. As the Gulf War looms, her father Ibrahim faces mounting professional pressure, while her mother Farah—struggling with physical and emotional pain—becomes increasingly distant. While her sister Sarah rebels against their deteriorating home life, Lily finds refuge in a simple mission: completing her Captain Majed sticker album with her friend Firas.
However, Lily’s innocence is soon tested. Caught between the strict expectations of the “Mutaween” (religious police) and her own childhood desires, a run-in at a local supermarket leaves her burdened by a premature sense of guilt.
The internal family structure finally collapses when a violent quarrel breaks out between her parents. Farah, unable to endure the turmoil, enlists their Bedouin neighbor, Malkah, to help her flee, leaving the girls behind to finish the school year. This forced separation shatters Lily’s perception of safety, thrusting her into a world where she realizes that adults—even her parents—are deeply flawed. It is here, amidst the dust of Mecca and the echoes of war, that Lily learns life’s harshest mystery: that the same hand that wounds can also be the one that begins the healing.
Country(s): Sudan, Germany, Sweden
Production company: Ore Productions
Coproduction Company: Auto Images
Runtime: 90 min
Director and Producer Marwa Zein
An International award winning Film Director, Script Writer and Producer for her acclaimed debut ‘Khartoum Offside’ and acclaimed short fiction films ‘A game’ and ‘One week, Two days’.
Marwa’s films have premiered & screened in Berlinale, Toronto, CPH DOX, Sheffield, Visions du reel, BOZAR, JCC, Cairo FF, Durban FF and IDFA amongst others.
“Khartoum Offside” received the15th Africa Movie Academy Award for best film (AMAA). Best first work by TV5 Monde, among more than 35 national and international awards.
Currently developing her feature fiction film ‘ Lily’s Mecca ‘. which is awarded for development grants from the prestigious Göteborg Film Festival, Red Sea & AFAC Development grant 2024.
Previous positions include Film Curator for Goethe im Exile Berlin 2025, Jury Member at CPH DOX, Jury Member at Jerusalem Film Festival, Film Programmer at Sudan independent film festival, Festival Director at SHNIT international FF Cairo edition, Dox Box selection Jury amongst others.
Since 2021, she is working as a Film Lecturer in Berlin Design and Film Academy SRH Berlin and since 2023 in Catalyst institute for Creative Arts & Technology in Berlin.
Marwa studied Chemical Engineering, Film, Media Arts and Imagery in Cairo, Copenhagen and Cologne.
Coproducer Magnus Gertten
Magnus Gertten has a background as TV and radio journalist. Since 1998 he has directed a large number of documentaries.
Most of Gertten’s films have been shown internationally at film festivals and by leading European and international broadcasters. His most recent work Only the Devil Lives Without Hope has been selected to festivals and broadcasted world wide.
Magnus previous works include feature length documentaries Becoming Zlatan and Every Face Has a Name. Becoming Zlatan, co-directed with his younger brother Fredrik Gertten premiered at the 2015 IDFA festival. It traveled international festivals and was sold for distribution worldwide. Every Face Has a Name was co-produced and pre-sold to 11 broadcasters worldwide and has received several international awards, including a FIPRESCI Award. His film Tusen Bitar / A Thousand Pieces, co-directed with Stefan Berg, has sold over 160.000 tickets in Nordic cinemas.
His documentary Harbour of Hope had Swedish cinema release and its international festival premiere at Thessaloniki Documentary Filmfestival in March 2012. Among Magnus’ other films are Rolling Like a Stone (2005) and Long Distance Love (2008). Rolling Like a Stone won the Best Music Documentary Award at the Silverdocs/AFI Festival in 2006. Long Distance Love won Best Documentary at Hamptons International Film Festival in 2009. Magnus Gertten is a member of European Film Academy.