The Sundance Film Festival premiered “Brides,” a film from the U.K., in the 2025 festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition. The team behind the film reminisced on their journey and its message.
“Brides” was directed by Nadia Fall and written by Suhayla El-Bushra. The film stars actresses Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar.
The story follows Doe and Muna, two teenage best friends from the U.K. who run away to Syria searching for a new life. When their travel plans fall apart, they’re left to navigate the journey on their own.
Writer Suhayla El-Bushra said that her inspiration behind the story was the real girls that made the journey to Syria from the U.K.
"What struck me about them was that they were very much teenage girls — really normal teenage girls," El-Bushra said.
El-Bushra said that she aimed to humanize these girls’ stories in a way that the media often didn’t.
"I just wanted to paint the whole picture of the real girls that they were," El-Bushra said.
Actress Ebada Hassan, who plays Doe, said that the film had an emotional impact on her.
"I think it's made me a lot more empathetic and I hope that's how people feel watching the film as well," Hassan said.
“Brides” marks the feature film debut of director Nadia Fall, who also hopes that the story of Doe and Muna inspires empathy.
"I hope everyone watching it recognizes that children — all the children — doesn't matter what language they speak or what God they worship: they're all our children," Fall said.
Actress Safiyya Ingar, who plays Muna, said that the filming process was incredible as they traveled around to several new places.
"The adventure kind of spoke for itself because we, as the actors, were on that adventure as well," Ingar said.
Fall said that the journey the cast and crew took while making the film “Brides” brought them closer together.
"We all went on the road movie together," Fall said. "We were all on the literal journey from Wales to Turkey to Sicily."
"The way that everybody came together to make this film — we really got behind the story was really inspiring," El-Bushra said.
On the festival stage or beyond, the film’s message of empathy, as well as the memories the cast and crew made while filming, continue on.