‘The Station’ Director on the Hidden World of Yemeni Women: ‘Behind Closed Doors, the Colors Emerge, the Frankincense, the Laughter and the Singing’

May 12, 2026 12:00am PT ‘The Station’ Director on the Hidden World of Yemeni Women: ‘Behind Closed Doors, the Colors Emerge, the Frankincense, the Laughter and the Singing’

Exclusive clip from Sara Ishaq’s 'The Station,' which has its world premiere in Critics’ Week in Cannes

By Leo Barraclough

Plus Icon

Leo Barraclough

International Features Editor

LeoBarraclough

Latest

• ‘The Station’ Director on the Hidden World of Yemeni Women: ‘Behind Closed Doors, the Colors Emerge, the Frankincense, the Laughter and the Singing’ 1 hour ago
• Sola Media Boards Animated Feature ‘Felix the Brave,’ Unveils Teaser at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE) 24 hours ago
• ‘Masha and the Bear’ Movie to Be Produced by Creator of YouTube Record-Breaking Series (EXCLUSIVE) 1 day ago

See All

Courtesy of Screen Project, Georges Films

Paradise City Sales has granted Variety access to an exclusive clip from Sara Ishaq‘s “The Station,” which has its world premiere in Critics’ Week at Cannes. Variety spoke to the Yemeni-Scottish filmmaker, who received an Academy Award nomination for her documentary short “Karama Has No Walls.”

The film centers on Layal, who runs a women-only gas station in Yemen: a safe haven in a war-torn country. The genesis for the project was in 2015 when Ishaq heard of just such a place that had “popped up” in Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen. “My sisters and my cousins are all going there to queue for fuel. So, I felt that was a very unusual thing to happen. And in a place like Yemen, women always drove but having an exclusive women-only fuel station was just like an amazing concept,” she explains.

Related Stories

Steve Coogan and Tom Burke Excel as Undercover Agents in Netflix War on Drugs Drama 'Legends': TV Review