Iranian Film Season

dublin | arts and media | press release Saturday October 01, 2011 22:55 by IFI - Irish Film Institute

One of the main criticisms of the status quo in Iran is the relegation of women to second-class citizens, something which had been explored by Iranian filmmakers repeatedly in the previous years. Many of these filmmakers were involved in the Green Wave, and this season attempts to select work which represents both these artists and their concerns on the rights of women in contemporary Iran. As the regime cracked down on protesters, the punishments imposed on many of the names mentioned in these notes make for chilling reading: Pegah Ahangarani and Mahnaz Mohammadi, repeatedly arrested and imprisoned, currently on release; Mohammad Rasoulof, imprisoned for six years; and most cruelly, Jafar Panahi, imprisoned for six years, and prohibited from filmmaking for 20.

Saturday 8 October 2011THE CIRCLE 15.10

The Circle, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival but banned in Iran, consists of a series of loosely connected stories of women struggling to meet the restrictions placed upon them by the state, with proscribed behaviours including travelling unaccompanied and smoking in public.

Opening in a maternity ward where the birth of a girl is greeted with despair, the film ends in a prison cell, a parallel which gives a clear indication of the director’s perception of how his society treats its women. Yet while these lives are seemingly filled with anxiety and furtiveness, there is a solidarity amongst the women, even as strangers, that gives them strength and dignity in the face of their oppression.

Saturday 15 October 2011 OFFSIDE 13.15

Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, but also banned in Iran, the hugely likeable Offside, while much lighter in tone than The Circle, shows equal conviction in its criticism of the absurdities foisted upon Iranian women by the rule of the law.

Filmed during an actual match in Iran’s qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup, we first follow a young girl trying to sneak her way into the stadium, as attendance at sporting events is forbidden to women. Foiled, she is brought to a holding pen with others who had the same idea. As the girls try to persuade their guards to let them into the stadium, the film becomes an amusing battle of wits between the two groups, with a truly uplifting ending. While it’s obvious where Panahi’s sympathies lie, he also subtly portrays the guards as being as trapped in their positions as the girls are in theirs.

Sunday 16 October 2011 THE GIRL IN THE SNEAKERS 13.20

What should be a sweet moment, two teens walking in a park, flirting, ends with their arrest for the crime of being in public together, unrelated and unchaperoned, and with Aideen (Majid Hajizadeh) under suspicion of having taken the virginity of Tadai (Pegah Ahangarani). Following a humiliating examination which proves otherwise, Tadai is forbidden from seeing him again. Heartbroken, she runs away from home and spends an eventful day trying to reach her love, facing difficulties at every turn and discovering that those in whom she can trust might not be the people she had assumed. Anchored by a remarkable, award-winning performance from Ahangarani, the film proves that while adolescent love and rebellion may be the same the world over, the seemingly insurmountable nature of the obstacles to Tadai’s happiness, including a state that actually does seem to be against her, provides a new perspective on what may be considered a jaded trope.

Saturday 22 October 2011 I AM TARANEH, I AM 15 YEARS OLD 14.20

Winner of a number of awards at the Locarno Film Festival, this film tells the story of Taraneh (Taraneh Alidoosti), who certainly has her share of problems: motherless, with her father in prison for an unspecified crime, she works to support her bedridden grandmother. Hope lies with the boy next door, who proposes marriage. The two get a temporary licence which allows them to go out in public together without fear of arrest. However, her husband-to-be soon tires of her and leaves for Germany, which is when Taraneh discovers she is pregnant. Despite the position this puts her in, and the scorn she attracts, Taraneh resists the attempted manipulations of the boy’s mother, amongst others, and decides to raise the child on her own.

Touching on a number of controversial issues – divorce, abortion, single motherhood – the film is really the story of Taraneh’s growth to maturity, and her strength and bravery in going against convention.

Tuesday 25 October 2011 OUR TIMES + WE ARE HALF OF IRAN’S POPULATION 18.40

Considered Iran’s premiere woman director, Rakhshan Bani-E’temad first came to prominence as a documentary filmmaker before progressing to features. These two films provide a fascinating insight into the difference in real power in Iran between that held by elected officials and that wielded by clerics. Our Times was inspired by the ultimately successful candidacy for a second term of pro-reform president Mohammed Khatami in 2001, contrasting this with the efforts of a female candidate to secure a place on the ballot. Despite his best intentions, Khatami was finally rendered powerless by the actions of Iran’s Supreme Leader and Guardian Council. In 2009, in collaboration with Mahnaz Mohammadi, Bani-E’temad returned to documentary with We are Half of Iran’s Population, in which presidential candidates were questioned on women’s rights, a key issue for the Green Wave movement. Eventual winner Ahmadinejad refused to participate, and several activists seen in the film were arrested in the post-election protests.

Wednesday 26 October 2011 GOODBYE 18.50

Winner of the Best Director prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard strand this year, Goodbye is a powerful depiction of how Iran’s current political regime contrives to restrict the freedoms of women. Lawyer Noora (Leyla Zareh) is no longer allowed to practice her profession, and her journalist husband is in hiding. As part of a plan to obtain black market visas which will free them to leave Iran, Noora is pregnant. When difficulties with her pregnancy lead her to contemplate abortion, she tries to solicit action and information from various bureaucracies, often thwarted because she is a woman alone, without a man to ‘authorise’ her requests.

The film uses its accumulation of small details to create a sinister atmosphere of oppression around Noora, building to a quietly devastating conclusion. Zareh excels as the anguished woman at the heart of the film, managing to convey Noora’s resolve even in spite of the utter powerlessness and isolation she feels.

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