The Arrival: Short Film
An experimental fashion short film about the immigrant experience and the feeling of being uprooted from one life and placed into another.
A fashion short film exploring the immigrant experience, drawn from designer Masoomah Jawid's journey as an Afghan immigrant. Winner of Best Student Film at the Melbourne PayPal Fashion Film Festival 2025, and an official selection at the Saint Kilda Film Festival 2025 and NYCIFFF in New York.
The Challenge
To translate the emotions of being uprooted from one world and transplanted into another into a short film, built around a designer's own story and her clothing.
How We Approached It
The film draws on Masoomah's journey as an Afghan immigrant. Ethnic motifs and the theme of concealment, expressed through masked and veiled dancers and a blue robe, carry the emotion and the complexity of immigrant identity.
Cinematography, editing and the colour grade were handled together to keep one consistent visual language, with choreography by Bianca Armstrong and an original score by Zhī Ma 芝麻 and Marroushti.
What Made It Special
Masoomah is both the designer and the narrator, and appears as herself alongside her brothers, which grounds the film's symbolism in real family.
The Reality
The Arrival has been recognised on the festival circuit.
- WinnerBest Student Film, Melbourne PayPal Fashion Film Festival 2025
- Official selectionSaint Kilda Film Festival 2025
- Official selectionNYCIFFF, New York City International Fashion Film Festival, screened at SoHo House, New York
