Trump's 'Muslim ban' to feature at Cannes International Film Festival

New York – A short film about a Yemeni girl caught up in a US airport in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from entry to the US, is set to take centre stage at the Canne Film Festival next month. 

The short film, titled "al-Mana‘", or "The Ban," due to be screened in the category of short films at the Cannes International Film Festival, will be available on cinema screens shortly afterwards.

Events in the fast-paced, five minute film revolve around the experiences of a Yemeni student called Leen who leaves her home village to study in the US. As Leen attempts to return to the US to finish her final semester at an American university, she gets detained at Chicago Airport on the night Trump issues ban.

In the film, a security official interrogates Leen and eventually bans her from entering the country. 

Director of the documentary Abu Saleh told Middle East Eye that the film, which was shot in Qatar, was inspired by his personal experiences at American airports since the issuing - and repealing- of Trump's "Muslim ban".

"Without the world identifying with the faces, and engaging with a human experience, it would be difficult fo them to understand the injustice people have been subjected to under this ban," Abu Saleh told MEE.

Trump’s decision to ban the entry of citizens of certain Muslim-majority countries provoked mass protests across the US and around the world. American judges have since halted the order.