GRADUALLY

THURSDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 3PM

Country Iran Running Time 74 mins Format 35 mm Director Maziar Miri
Screenplay Parviz Shahbazi Producer Jahangir Kosari DoP Hassan Karimi
Cast Mohammad-Reza Forutan, Niloofar Khosh-kholgh, Hassan Poor Shirazi, Maryam BoUbani Print Source SMI Website www.smediaint.com

Playing with DISPLACED VOICES

Akin to his feature debut, Unfinished Song, about harassed singers in his native Iran, Maziar Miri’s second also converges on social taboo. For if Mahmoud, the married blue-collar fellow’s embodiment of Iranian society, fails to find his wife, his social status will be exposed.
Mahmoud truly loves his wife, Pari, who is mentally challenged. One day, Mahmoud discovers that Pari has disappeared and has not been back to their apartment for days, leaving behind their small daughter. He decides to give up work to look for her. During the search for his runaway wife (a terrible ignominy in Iran), Mahmoud’s turbulent emotions stack up as the judgemental pressures of family and neighbours increase. With well-drawn characters and suspense, Miri explores gender prejudices in Iran and the delicate balancing act women must play to coexist with social intolerance and state founded suppression. During the course of his wanderings through the Iranian capital, Mahmoud meets a wealth of people, always unpleasantly vocal, and often malicious, about his plight.
The film flouts our pre-conceptions on Iranian society, on the one hand portraying the deep-seated intolerance that still pervades the country, and on the other unfolding a subtle story of love, loss and journey. ER

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