Profane

A young Muslim Dominatrix in the midst of a spiritual crisis.

Feature film, 78 minutes
Written and Directed by Usama Alshaibi
Starring Manal Kara, Molly Plunk & Dejan Mircea

Awards
Best Film of the Year, Underground Film Journal
Best Feature Film, Boston Underground Film Festival
Best Experimental Film, Minneapolis Underground Film Festival
Best Director, Best Feature & Best Cinematography, Sexy International Film Festival

“A deeply felt journey into psychosexual horror."–Time Out Boston

"This is one of the most heretical and daring visions of sexuality ever filmed." –Lavender Magazine

“Profane is an extraordinary visionary work from an accomplished filmmaker who is clearly now at the top of his game.” –Underground Film Journal

“Torn between ecstasy and submission, Muna takes an unorthodox path to enlightenment, one that Profane dramatizes with documentary methods and psychedelic imagery. Alshaibi demonstrates that true reverence sometimes requires transgression.” –The Boston Phoenix

“There’s a cinematic mastery lying at the very core of Profane.” –The Independent Film Critic

“Like a bargain-basement version of Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void, this Chicago-shot feature by Usama Alshaibi (Nice Bombs) uses a panoply of shock tactics—rapid editing, blurry superimpositions, drug use, and S-M—to evoke nauseous fascination with the sexual underworld. And like Noé, Alshaibi seems as curious about religious transcendence as degradation. The heroine, a Jordanian immigrant, works contentedly as a dominatrix but wants to reconnect with her Muslim roots; scenes of her lurid career alternate with a sweet subplot in which she befriends a religiously devout Middle Eastern cabdriver. Though certainly not for the squeamish, the movie is a striking story of life in the Arab diaspora, aided rather than undermined by its occasional narrative incoherence.” —Chicago Reader