Soft Thorns (2005)

At a Damascus girls' high school, the school counsellor Hanan is the quiet centre of everyone's storms — helping teenagers navigate family pressure, social expectations and the bruising complexities of adolescence, while quietly managing the unravelling of her own marriage. Each student carries a different wound; each episode peels back another layer. A warm, perceptive Syrian drama about the hidden costs of growing up female in Arab society. Directed by Rasha Sharbatji, starring Salma Al-Masri and Qusay Khouli.