THE MERMAID, 105min., USA
Directed by Soudabeh Moradian
A mysterious girl is saved from drowning by a fragmented family living in a desolate beach house. Her strange relationship with them becomes intimate and complex until everything reaches to a point of no return.

https://www.instagram.com/themermaidmovie/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
The Mermaid was born out of a personal urgency to explore the psychological aftermath of trauma—particularly when it’s silenced or dismissed. I wanted to create a space for a character who’s constantly gaslit, both by her inner world and the people around her, and to blur the line between dream and reality. It’s a reflection on emotional abuse, xenophobia, and isolation, wrapped in the aesthetics of psychological horror.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
It took more than three years from the initial concept to the final cut. Development and writing were fairly quick, but production and especially post-production were long and complicated—partly due to budget constraints and doing so much of the work myself.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Hauntingly intimate.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Financing and post-production. I wore multiple hats—writer, director, producer, editor —and managing everything independently while teaching full-time at Syracuse University was incredibly draining. There were moments I truly thought it wouldn’t get finished.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was surreal and deeply moving. Hearing people connect to the emotional undercurrents, even if they interpreted things differently, made me feel like the risks I took paid off.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I was drawn to storytelling as a child, but I fully realized I wanted to make films after watching how cinema could articulate things I couldn’t find words for. It became both an escape and a confrontation—something I needed. So I started my work as a documentary filmmaker and a war journalist and then gradually brought what I witnessed and observed – the human stories – into my narrative films.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Probably Persona by Ingmar Bergman. Every time I watch it, I find a new crack in the psyche, a new meaning in silence. It’s like looking into a mirror that’s always slightly fogged.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
Intimate roundtables or meet-the-filmmaker sessions would be incredibly helpful. Also, helping connect filmmakers with distributors or curators—even via informal mixers—would really elevate the impact festivals can have.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
FilmFreeway has made festival submissions more accessible, but it can feel impersonal at times. I appreciate when festivals reach out directly after selection—it humanizes the process.

10. What is your favorite meal?
Persian tahchin—crispy saffron rice layered with chicken or eggplant. It tastes like home, and it’s best when shared.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
Yes—I’m currently developing my next feature, Wild Berries, a film that explores generational trauma and immigration. While it’s rooted more in reality, it retains an emotionally haunting tone through its nonlinear, time-travel narrative. The project has started and stalled several times over the past couple of years, but I’m now focused on securing funding to move into pre-production.