EIFF 2013: From Tehran to London

Film Review by Josh Slater-Williams | 22 Jun 2013
Film title: From Tehran to London
Director: Mania Akbari
Starring: Neda Amiri, Bijan Daneshmand, Elahe Hesari, Mania Akbari

Mania Akbari’s film is dedicated to “all those filmmakers in Iran, who have served a prison sentence and the ones who are still in prison.” A hypnotising exploration of a dissatisfied couple, the film conveys imprisonment in its own aesthetic. Relegated solely to a rural home’s interiors and shot in long, unbroken takes heavy on close-ups, it is a series of electric dialogues between wife, husband, sister and servant over the course of a few weeks, addressing both a specific relationship and the issue of women’s roles in Iran.

Akbari and her crew fled from Iran to Britain partway into shooting, after fears for their safety following the aforementioned filmmaker arrests. The film’s lead Ava (Amiri) seeks freedom of choice away from her husband’s impossible expectations and society’s restrictions on her. This excellent short work concludes and is edited as to suggest the incomplete nature of Iranian women’s struggle, even if the filmmaker herself has managed some degree of freedom through personal choice.

From Tehran to London screens at Edinburgh International Film Festival

22 Jun, 8.15pm @ Filmhouse 2
23 Jun, 3pm @ Filmhouse 3

Screening with Roya Akbari's 25 minute documentary Dancing Mania