Nothing but a test

Gerrit Rietveld Academy graduation show, 2024

To some, dying is considered the beginning of a new life.  We should not fear death, as it is our promised future. Despite this being a promised part of life, death remains the most incomprehensible promise. “Nothing but a test” is an audiovisual installation that portrays the consequences of current cliches and accepted narratives of the Muslim woman.

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

The protagonist in the film encounters several moments wherein she feels an (in)visible presence, which hints the embodiment of how the external world might view the protagonist. Her behaviour becomes the death of the protagonist - which turns out to be her relief.

The installation inhabits references from my thesis “A deep dive into mold”, in which I unpack what happens to us when we die [in some’s realities being considered as the soul departing from the physical body]. It includes the study of the existence of a soul, brain-activities and consciousness during ‘near’ death experiences and religious explanations. The viewer is merged with the protagonist’s experience when her soul leaves her body. We scent the Al Hajar Al Aswad.

Please contact for link to the full film



Credits:

Written and directed by
Director of Photography
Light
Light assistant
Styling
Make up
Make up assistant
Set design
Edit:                          
Sound                               
Color grading                   
Glass sculpture              
Sculpture                        
Actor                                   Fatima Agoula
Mostafa Heravi
Ben Geraerts
Kris van Melle
Yorick Westerkamp & Fatima Agoula
Dani Fuerza
Roos Wiers
Fatima Agoula
Darina Mohammed & Fatima Agoula
Rocco Tozzi
Fatima Agoula
Xiomara Virdó
Alina Setjowikarto
Soodeh Lashkari

Special thanks to:

Florian Joahn,
Christopher Tym,
Omri Bigetz,
Martin Grootenboer,
Colette Grootenboer,

Margarita Kosareva,
Siebe ten Dam,
Izzy Lee,
Karolina Wilting
and Yassmina el Hassnaoui