The screening of the short film Iranian Women’s Liberation Movement: Year Zero will be followed by Dream of Silk.
Iranian Women’s Liberation Movement: Year Zero (1979)
Original title: Le mouvement de libération des femmes iraniennes: année zero /
جنبش آزادی زنان ایران – سال صفر
Director: Sylvina Boisonnas, Michelle Mullier, Slyviane Rey, Claudine Mulard
Runtime: 13 min
Country: France, Iran
Language: French, Persian with English subtitles
Rating: PG
Synopsis
Shortly after the Iranian Revolution of February 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini announced mandatory veiling for women. Helmed by high school girls, thousands of women across all classes and ages took to the streets and demonstrated for six days, until they were met with intimidation and violence by the establishment. Shortly before being expelled from the country, a collective of French feminist filmmakers captured this moment of liberatory revolt.
Taking place two decades prior to Dream of Silk, to a time when Nahid Rezaei would have been the same age as the subjects of her film, Year Zero allows us to historicise this legacy of Iranian women’s fight for rights and freedom.
Dream of Silk (2003)
Original Title: Kabeh abrisham / خواب ابریشم
Director: Nahid Rezaei
Runtime: 43 min
Country: Iran
Language: Persian with English subtitles
Rating: NC16 (Some Mature Content)
Synopsis
In 2003, filmmaker Nahid Razaei returned to the all-girls high school she attended 25 years prior to interview its current students about where they could see themselves in 20 years time. Speaking frankly of repressive systems of power, their fearless testimonies of desire and determination echo resoundingly into the present.
On 16 September 2022, in Tehran, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old Kurdish woman, died after being detained by authorities for wearing an “improper” hijab. This sparked a civil disobedience movement, led by young women, demanding an end to the mandatory hijab, that escalated into a nationwide uprising against the government that continues till today.
Coming of Rage: Asian Youth & Politics on Screen runs from 2 – 25 June 2023. See the full programme here.
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