On the day on which BERLINALE winner Jafar Panahi (Golden Bear 2015 for "Taxi Tehran") was arrested in Tehran, it is of course even more important to remember Iranian cinema. This film also tells of guilt and forgiveness with formal rigor. Together with her husband Behtash Sanaeeha, the Swedish-Iranian actress, director and screenwriter Maryam Moghaddam (*1970) was nominated for the Golden Bear at the BERLINALE 2021.
Mina's husband (Maryam Moghaddam) was sentenced to death and executed a year ago. Since then, she has had to look after her deaf daughter Bita (Avin Purraoufi) alone. Her brother-in-law (Pourya Rahimisam) makes an unpleasant effort to look after her. Suddenly it turns out that Mina's husband was innocent. The judge Reza (Alireza Sanifar), whom Mina has never seen, has remorse and begins to take care of Mina and her daughter. Of course, this can't remain undetected forever...
What does it mean to have to live normal everyday life and special crisis situations in a religious dictatorship like Iran? Especially in a big city juggernaut like Tehran! However, there can be no normal everyday life for single women in Iran. And even for young guys like Reza's son, the only way out is often to escape into an overdose. After all, drugs are not a problem in Tehran. Films from Iran are often like a message in a bottle that smuggles secret messages. This is also the case here, where little Bita was named after a film character from 1972, who was played by the Persian superstar Googoosh (*1950, according to Wikipedia) in the pre-revolutionary period.
A great film in which every look, every gesture and every detail counts. Let's hope that Panahi and all his imprisoned colleagues will be released soon!!!
Mina's husband (Maryam Moghaddam) was sentenced to death and executed a year ago. Since then, she has had to look after her deaf daughter Bita (Avin Purraoufi) alone. Her brother-in-law (Pourya Rahimisam) makes an unpleasant effort to look after her. Suddenly it turns out that Mina's husband was innocent. The judge Reza (Alireza Sanifar), whom Mina has never seen, has remorse and begins to take care of Mina and her daughter. Of course, this can't remain undetected forever...
What does it mean to have to live normal everyday life and special crisis situations in a religious dictatorship like Iran? Especially in a big city juggernaut like Tehran! However, there can be no normal everyday life for single women in Iran. And even for young guys like Reza's son, the only way out is often to escape into an overdose. After all, drugs are not a problem in Tehran. Films from Iran are often like a message in a bottle that smuggles secret messages. This is also the case here, where little Bita was named after a film character from 1972, who was played by the Persian superstar Googoosh (*1950, according to Wikipedia) in the pre-revolutionary period.
A great film in which every look, every gesture and every detail counts. Let's hope that Panahi and all his imprisoned colleagues will be released soon!!!