Yalda

During Yalda, the longest night of the year during which the start of Winter is celebrated, there is a reality show on television where participants need to forgive someone for a great injustice that has been done to them. There is a lot on the line: Maryam, a young woman, has been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, Nasser. Mona, Nasser’s daughter from a previous marriage, has to decide whether she can forgive her. When the two start discussing their past, it appears there are always more sides to a story and that forgiving someone is not always easy. The viewers at home have to send in their vote on Maryam’s fate.

Fascinated by the complexities of modern day Iran, Massoud Bakhshi made a couple of documentaries in which he meets different women who murdered their husband. These stories haunted him. Based on these stories, Bakhshi made a film that is a satire on the media and television culture, but most of all is an indictment against the society dominated by men and the limitations the women are confronted with, no matter their background. The lively, modern Iranian identity shows a stark contrast in Yalda to the persistent conservative organization.