Son-Mother

Leila is widowed. She lives in a rental room together with her 12-year-old son, Amir, and her 2-year-old daughter. The factory where she works is having trouble and she fears she will be laid off. Marrying bus driver Kazem could be the solution to her financial problems, but Kazem has a 12-year-old daughter, and according to Iranian religious traditions, a boy and girl cannot live together if they are not blood-related. Kazem suggests letting Amir live somewhere else until his daughter is married, but Leila refuses. When suddenly Leila’s daughter becomes gravely ill, and Kazem is the only one who can afford the expensive medication, Leila is set before an impossible choice.

Mahnaz Mohammadi tells her story in a sophisticated cinematic way: sombre and authentic, like the Italian neorealist tradition. She dissects the ruthless current-day Iranian society where women are constantly humiliated and stripped from their freedom of choice. Those choices are after all decided by the patriarchal and rigid religious traditions that could even tear families apart.