CJAD, Canada
May 25 2005

Arsinee Khanjian plays title role in Sabah, about single Muslim woman
in love

Canadian Press

TORONTO (CP) – Though the title role was written for her, Toronto
actress Arsinee Khanjian wasn’t sure she was right for Sabah, the
feature directorial debut of Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nedda.

The story centres on a 40-year-old single Muslim-Arab woman who lives
with her widowed mother in a Toronto home. Dedicated to living a
traditional Muslim lifestyle, one day Sabah defies familial duties
and goes swimming in a public pool where she meets and eventually
falls in love with Stephen (Shawn Doyle), a Christian man who is also
divorced.

“Although I’m completely familiar with the environment, I wasn’t sure
I could play Sabah,” said Khanjian, 46, in Toronto recently.

“I come from the Middle East, I grew up in the Middle East. I was 17
when I left, so I had enough conscious understanding of what Arabic
culture is about. However . . . I am from Armenian background,
therefore Christian, (and) we were dealing with a family with Muslim
values. I felt that maybe I wasn’t the right person to play the part
given the climate of today in terms of how the West is trying to
figure out what Islam is about. But she (Nedda) was incredibly at
ease about it saying that ‘What you read in this script is my intense
relationship with my own culture and I think you’re a good voice for
it.’ ”

Khanjian, who is married to filmmaker Atom Egoyan, admits that the
hardest part about playing Sabah was learning how to belly dance.

“I had a very shy disposition for it,” she laughs. “I think it comes
from my upbringing. Belly dancing was not for proper women. So I had
to release that taboo out of my system. It’s also a very hard dance
form. It needs a very clear sense of separating each part of the
body. It’s a beautiful dance.”

Sabah will be released in theatres on May 27.