CITY WALLS: MY OWN PRIVATE TEHERAN

Afsar Sonia Shafie
Iran, Switzerland 2006 | 87 Min. | BetaSP, OmeU

Swiss-based Iran­ian film­mak­er Afsar Sonia returns to her home in Teheran. In an inti­mate tone, she tells her grand­moth­er’s, moth­er’s, sis­ters’ and her own story. The doc­u­men­tary shows how women in three gen­er­a­tions have fought and con­tin­ue to fight for their rights and attempt to improve the con­di­tions for their daugh­ters. Only by making immense sac­ri­fices, the film­mak­er’s mother has achieved the aim of rais­ing her daugh­ters to become inde­pen­dent and edu­cat­ed women. She has had to work hard in order to pay for their col­lege edu­ca­tion. These strong women stand in stark con­trast to their spous­es. In Iran’s patri­ar­chal soci­ety, men often lack under­stand­ing for eman­ci­pat­ed women who are thirsty for knowl­edge and per­son­al growth. Due to this gender con­flict many young mar­riages (as that of the film­mak­er) fail and end in divorce.