Washing

Gusul (Washing) captures the final moment of intimacy between two Bosnian Muslim women in Sweden. Emina’s mother dies in their Swedish home. Emina refuses to let the authorities take care of the corpse until she has performed a ritual washing of her mother. Sweeping her mum in a traditional white sheet becomes her last gift. This film focuses on the mundane, intimate and unspectacular lives of Muslim refugees. It refuses to engage with controversial but vapid issues typically ascribed to Muslims, instead trying to capture the everydayness of life.

Synopsis

Emina cleans her poorly mother’s bedroom. The mother, who has been silent for three years after the traumatic murder of her husband, suddenly utters a wish. She wants her daughter to make her some plum pie. Excited by the positive turn of events, Emina makes the sweet dish and keeps chatting with her mother. Then the mother dies. Holding the uneaten pie over her mother’s corpse, Emina decides to give her mother the last ritual washing before the body is taken to the morgue. Sweeping her mum in a traditional white sheet becomes her last gift.