Iris Zaki (b. 1978, Israel) has lived in London since 2009. For several years prior to this she worked for Israeli media. She shot her debut short doc My Kosher Shifts (2011) at the hotel where she worked the reception desk in order to pay her rent. In 2013 she commenced a practice-based PhD in documentary filmmaking. Her research explores her own innovative documentary techniques that allow her to focus on closed communities.
Women in Sink (2015, 14’19”)
It is the story of a little hair salon in the heart of the Arab community in Haifa (Israel); it is the story of a friendship between Arab and Jewish women in the city, which is considered a model of coexistence; and it is the story of Iris, the director, who worked as a hair washer at the salon so she could get to know women of the neighbourhood. Through her interaction with the women, in this unique frame, Iris wishes to tell the story of the community from the personal experience of the film’s subjects, and to explore what it reflects of Israeli society.