Eiman Mirghani’s short film, Villa 187, is a film essay on home and, in her case, the home she and her family lived in for more than three decades. The film opens with Eiman on the floor of her family’s home, going through pictures of her and her father as her father’s voicemail messages play.
In the messages, he reminisces about their first home here in Qatar, where he—a surgeon who graduated from a university in Ireland—had set roots. Recently, he lost his job. With no job, his visa was canceled, and he had to leave the country. Here, Eiman documents her feelings as she prepares to leave, as her father assures her in a voicemail that things will work out.
“…going through pictures of her and her father as her father’s voicemail messages play.”
Eiman Mirghani created Villa 187 as a deeply personal investigation into displacement and the meaning of home. The film emerges from the director’s own family story—the experience of a father building a villa in retirement and the complex emotional landscape that surrounded that house. Rather than a conventional biography or family portrait, Mirghani structured the documentary around archival materials (voicemail recordings, home video, photographs) that allow the father’s presence to speak without mediation.
Home is truly a global theme. Home may look very different from culture to culture, but we all understand how the idea of home is inextricably linked to our identity. It’s what grounds us and gives us stability. Mirghani captures this intimate terrain through images of family photos and VHS tapes, including a wedding celebration with her father. Over time, her childhood home becomes an empty shell. Each scene marks a moment of dissolution. Mirghani uses film beautifully, and we feel her emptiness as she moves on to the next chapter of her life.
"…Her childhood home becomes an empty shell."
