Red Shoes
Project Dossier
Feature Film Screenplay
Based on the novel by Sabina Saygun
Screenplay by Bekka Queen
Genre: Psychological Drama
Mystical Realism
Status: Completed
LOGLINE
A girl raised amid violence, addiction and rejection struggles to escape a world that has taught her since childhood that she is worth nothing. Her only companions are an old dog, a pair of red shoes, and the man she once feared most — yet through loss, pain and an unexpected bond, Zarifa discovers for the first time what it means to have a family and an identity of her own.
SHORT PITCH
Nine-year-old Zarifa grows up in a poor village with an alcoholic mother, surrounded by violence, neglect and social rejection. She does not attend school and learns early that survival often means silence.
Her only source of unconditional affection is Lali, an ageing stray dog, while a pair of red shoes becomes the last fragile symbol of her childhood.
As Zarifa grows older, she becomes fiercely independent and tries to build a life of her own. An abandoned greenhouse becomes her first real achievement — proof that she is capable not only of surviving, but of creating something for herself.
Her complicated relationship with Maharram, a man who once frightened and hurt her, slowly transforms into an unexpected father-daughter bond. After further violence forces Zarifa to leave home, she discovers a different kind of family — one built not on blood, but on care, trust and choice.
Yet love brings new losses, and a devastating truth about Zarifa’s origins eventually leaves her with almost nothing except the one thing she knows belongs to her: her name.
Red Shoes is a psychological drama about childhood trauma, identity, dignity, chosen family and the extraordinary ability to preserve love in a world determined to destroy it.
SYNOPSIS
Zarifa grows up in a violent and unstable home, isolated from school and from the other children in her village. Her old dog Lali and a pair of red shoes become symbols of the childhood she is barely allowed to have.
Over the years, she learns to survive on her own. She restores an abandoned greenhouse and begins building a future, but the violence surrounding her repeatedly destroys everything she creates.
After leaving home, Zarifa finds refuge with Maharram and his family. For the first time, she experiences a household where food, safety and kindness are offered without conditions. She forms a particularly close bond with Saya, a seriously ill young woman who teaches her to read, write and eventually write her own name.
After losing both Lali and Saya, Zarifa returns to the woman she has always believed to be her mother and finally learns the truth: she was abandoned as a child, and the woman who raised her is not her biological mother.
With no known surname, father’s name or exact date of birth, Zarifa realizes that the only unquestionable part of her identity is the name she learned to write herself.
Soon afterward, her health deteriorates and she is diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Knowing she may not survive, Zarifa asks Maharram to bury her between Lali and Saya, together with her red shoes and childhood teddy bear.
After her death, her final resting place becomes a symbol of the family she chose for herself.
The film closes with the image of a little girl in new red shoes walking along the village road. This time, she joins the other children — and no one tells her she does not belong.
STATUS
Completed Feature Screenplay
Full screenplay available upon professional request.
© All rights reserved. The screenplay and accompanying materials are protected by copyright. Any use, reproduction, distribution or screen adaptation requires the written permission of the rights holders.
Sabina Saygun l Official Author Website 