Presentation

Love & Revenge, a docu-fiction. The characters of Doody and Ansam, Salem's niece and sister, respectively, portray fictionalized versions of themselves, young women navigating contemporary Saudi Arabian society. The film captures staged scenes of their private moments, public appearances, and performances, serving as a cathartic journey from the actual event that happened to Doody over publishing a photo -–causing mass bullying on social media and government accusation— by censoring and blurring the boundaries between reality, the digital realm and fiction. In the fiction, Doody frequently escapes into an avatar created through an Instagram filter, gradually immersing herself in this alternative reality. The incarnation serves both as a veil through which to break free from social conventions (as in Saudi Arabia, images and representations were prohibited until the 1990s) and as a potential trap, given the loss of control over image diffusion in today's era of rapid connectivity. 

Salem combines sequences filmed with an iPhone, webcam footage, screenshots, memes, and Skype calls with instant messages and notifications, challenging the conventions of traditional filmmaking. By quoting texts such as Doody’s poem “Absolute Narcissism نرجسية بحتة” and lines from Chris Marker’s film “Level Five 1997” and Shūji Terayama’s “Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets 1971” the film attempts to overcome a certain duality tradition-innovation. These diverse forms of imagery raise awareness about how individuals are represented and perceived in a world where the digital realm is just as significant as reality. The film is an ongoing poetic tribute made to/with Doody, who passed away after its release—and published her last words on the IG account of the film @livingthefirelife_000zg.

Short synopsis:

A teenage girl tries to escape her reality using an Instagram filter. The desire to be free by existing as an image collapsed after losing control over her avatar.

From a distance, Anhar casts family and friends, who shoot and act in the movie as fictionalized versions of themselves, exploring and hovering between private and public life in Saudi Arabia.

Biography

Anhar Salem is a multidisciplinary artist with a multi-ethnic background (Yemeni and Indonesian). Salem studied Information Technology at the Arab Open University in Jeddah, then completed a postgraduate degree at Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains in Tourcoing. Her artistic practice explores, documents, and reveals private spaces to the public realm through themes of everyday life, the body, and social media. Working primarily with video, Salem draws an emphasis on new forms of communication that critique video as a medium. She often improvises with her iPhone camera, working collaboratively with her subjects and characters as a means to foreground processes around the marginalization of people and their images.

Salem's work has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Reiffers Art Initiatives Prize (2025), Révélation Art Numérique – Art Vidéo / ADAGP Prize (2021, France), the Prix Around Video Art Fair / Renato et Catherine Casciani (2021, France), the Radar Award at Curtocircuíto International Film Festival (2022, Spain), and the Prix Analix Forever / Galerie Analix (2021, France).

She has participated in several notable artist residencies, including the Pickle Bar Residency with Slavs and Tatars (Berlin, 2022), the Almansouria Residency at Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, 2023–2024), the Heretige and Innovation Residency (AlUla, 2024), and the Pinault Collection Artist Residency (Lens, 2025–2026).

Her solo exhibition “Mashallah. Why Did You Wander Out?” was presented at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris (2023).

She has also participated in prominent group exhibitions, including “THE FUTURE IS UNMANNED” at La HEAD (2024, Switzerland), “I Took a Screenshot of the Whole World” at POUSH (2023, France), and “PICKLE BAR PRESENTS” at West Den Haag (2023, Netherlands).

Credits

• Directed by: Anhar Salem

• Cast: Doody, Ansam Salem, Loulou

• Director of Photography: Ansam Salem

• Written by: Doody, Anhar Salem

• Writing consultant: Anas Batahaf

• Assistant director: Abdulrahman