The Son – Delly Shirazi

One of the most exhilarating aspects of working as a programmer for IFFR is the privilege of experiencing the moment when you unexpectedly discover a distinctive first work by a filmmaker who was unknown to you only moments earlier. The Son (Pesar) is such a film that takes you to this longed-for place of utter authenticity and balmy revelation.

Noushin Meraji employs much irony and wit in introducing a helpless grown-up man in his early forties who suddenly gets stuck in a tragic situation. Farshid is an awkward son who alternatingly amuses and irritates us, makes us pity him and has us worried. But Meraji never makes us despise him: she astutely reverses the déjà-vu gaze of the countless male directors who have focused on women in trouble in Iranian cinema of the past 42 years.

Beside this brand-new take on a quirky male character by a female director with a serious talent for allowing the situation to unfold in the most unpredictable manner, what strikes us most is Noushin Meraji’s capacity for tenderness and humanity. At the peak of the dramatic tension, she manages to fully restore Farshid’s integrity by bringing us back to the essentials. That moment is truly mahshar, as we say in Farsi: just fabulous!

Written by Delly Shirazi