Babek Aliassa
Directing
Biography
Babek Aliassa was born in Iran. He studied architecture in Paris, then cinema at La Fémis. Soon after arriving in Canada in 1996, he settled in Toronto and became involved in its French-speaking artistic community for which he founded the Laboratoire d'art. After directing a short film and two documentaries, he moved to Montreal to make his first feature film, Halal Butcher Shop (2012). The theme of immigration is central to his work and greatly influenced by the many times Babek has moved in his life, from France to Iran and from English Canada to Belarus, before settling down in Quebec. He has served on the board of Diversité artistique Montréal (DAM) to promote more inclusive representation on stage and screen. Babek is also a producer.
Known For
When her illegal husband is deported from Canada, Bassima, a young Syrian woman, finds herself in a difficult situation, both socially and financially. Desperately looking for a way to bring her husband back, she agrees to become a surrogate mother in exchange for a false passport for him. However, she soon finds out that she is already pregnant and must give up her own child.
Bassima's Womb
A muslim couple opens a butcher shop in Montreal and wishes to successfully integrate into Quebec society. But the butcher's father is an imam who sets up a little mosque in the back room and uses it to spread his fundamentalist views. When he is arrested by the RCMP on suspicions of past terrorist activities, his son, torn between love for his wife and allegiance to his father, gets involved in a plot to free him. Fed up by her husband's unwillingness to stand up to his father's wishes, the butcher's wife leaves to live a more fulfilling life away from the muslim community.