Songs of Adam
Oday Rasheed
Drama
2025
98 minutes
13+
Iraq, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, USA
Arabic
English and French
In 1946 Mesopotamia, twelve-year-old Adam is shaken after being made to witness a burial rite from which his beloved cousin Iman is excluded. In the wake of this moment, Adam declares he no longer wishes to grow up -- and, inexplicably, he doesn't. As the years go by, his untouched youth unsettles the villagers and divides those closest to him. While some see his condition as unnatural, others view it as a quiet rebellion against the loss of innocence. Songs of Adam explores memory, gender, and transformation through the eyes of a boy who remains still as the world moves on.
Oday Rasheed is an Iraqi-American writer and director. In 2003, he filmed his debut feature Underexposure, the first film shot in Iraq after the U.S. invasion. It premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and won several awards, including Best Film at the Singapore International Film Festival. His second feature, Qarantina (2009), received the Jury Prize at the Oran Film Festival. Rasheed immigrated to the U.S. in 2012 and later directed his first English-language film, If You See Something, which premiered at the 2024 Woodstock International Film Festival. His most recent film, Songs of Adam, won Best Screenplay at the 2024 Red Sea Competition.