Zar Amir Stars In Gaya Jiji's Pieces of a Foreign Life

France, 24 June 2026 | Gaya Jiji's second feature follows a Syrian woman in Bordeaux, with Zar Amir carrying a story of exile, separation and the fragile hope of return.

Iranian-French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi stars in L’Étrangère, the second feature film by Syrian-French filmmaker Gaya Jiji.

The film, internationally titled Pieces of a Foreign Life, opened in French cinemas on 24 June 2026 through Tandem Films. It previously competed at Bergamo Film Meeting 2026.

The film follows Selma, a Syrian woman who flees the war, leaving behind her young son and her husband, who has disappeared into the prisons of Bashar al-Assad’s former regime.

After arriving in Bordeaux, Selma works illegally while trying to secure asylum and find a way to bring her son, Rami, to France. Her life changes when she meets Jérôme, a lawyer who helps her with her case. Their relationship slowly becomes something deeper, and it begins to unsettle the life she is trying to rebuild.

Zar Amir Stars In Gaya Jiji’s Pieces of a Foreign Life

Gaya Jiji has said she wanted to approach immigration through intimacy and melodrama, rather than through a direct social drama. For Gaya Jiji, the film is also about the idea that love can become a kind of homeland.

The connection between Gaya Jiji and Zar Amir is also personal. Both women were forced to leave their countries, and Gaya Jiji has said this shared experience shaped their work on Selma. She had spent years searching for the right actress for the role before seeing Zar Amir in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider.

Zar Amir plays Selma as a woman carrying grief, fear and resistance in her body. The character is often treated as invisible, both by French society and by parts of the Syrian community around her. In Gaya Jiji’s view, Jérôme’s recognition of Selma’s courage is what allows her to be seen.

Pieces of a Foreign Life is a France-Belgium production, written by Gaya Jiji, Sarah Angelini, Agnès Feuvre and Mehdi Ben Attia. The cast also includes Alexis Manenti as Jérôme, Amr Waked as Yasser, Megan Northam as Claire, and Grégoire Monsaingeon as Markus.

The film runs 101 minutes and is produced by Gloria Films Production, TS Productions, France 3 Cinéma and Panache Productions. International sales are handled by France tv Distribution.

Zar Amir , who won Best Actress at Cannes in 2022 for Holy Spider, has continued to work across European and international cinema. She also appeared in Two People Exchanging Saliva, which won the 2026 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in a rare tie with The Singers.

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Gaya Jiji is now writing a new project that will form part of a trilogy with her debut feature “My Favourite Fabric” and “Pieces of a Foreign Life”. The new film looks toward childhood, nostalgia and the question of dreaming in a country shaped by dictatorship.

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