Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others

Mahboube, a woman in her early thirties, enjoys a solitary existence. But her world is turned upside down when she lets a film crew into her home for a week-long shoot. First, she sees the objects that comprise her physical life used without thought or care. Then, the filming process affects her on a deeper level, forcing her to come to terms with the ghosts of her past and her place as a woman in Iranian society.

Iranian cinema has long blurred the line between reality and fiction – questioning the way people live their lives, those who govern them and the structures they enforce. Shot as the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement was building support in the country following the killing of Mahsa Amini, Farshad Hashemi’s feature directorial debut gradually peels away the layers of Mahboube’s life as she comes to terms with the limitations she faces as a woman, and a history she has long chosen to suppress but which now haunts her waking hours. At the same time, the film is a reflection on the nature of filmmaking, exploring its capacity to truly capture the complexity of everyday lives.

– Vanja Kaludjercic