Synopsis

Three young girls' love for life, which can be socially cruel and which takes them to the threshold of a deadly fall.

Bemani, who is forced to marry an old man because of unbearable poverty, watches the agony and self-burning of her close friends, young girls like herself.

They are the victims of paternal and fraternal prejudices and violence. But Bemani does not surrender to her fate.



Instead she rebels against the insecurities and cruelty which surround her. Bemani means staying (alive) in Farsi, but it is also the name of a young woman, who tries to commit suicide by setting herself on fire.

‘Khod Souzi’ is a new trend in some Iranian small towns, like Il`an, near the Iraqi border. Inspired by several real life stories, Mehrjui goes beyond the privileged urban milieu he knows best to encounter country people, discover the fate of desperate girls, and explore sacrifice and self-sacrifice.

In a semi-fictional, semi-documentary style, this moving film interweaves several stories – stories of shame and honour – and presents desperate girls with few options other than self-destruction.

We meet a soldier who is in love with a carpet weaver, abandoned by her addicted husband: she will be beheaded by her brothers for her supposed faithlessness (no proof is needed).

Then there is a young medical student, insulted in public by her father, who is forced to get married to a man older than her grandfather. An unemployed shepherd who wants to live in a city, and leaves behind an enamoured girl said to be ‘ugly and lazy’.

That the prolific Mehrjui manages to find a poetic and beautiful ending to all these tragic stories, is nothing short of a miracle. Trust him also to find an excellent musical soundtrack by Mohammed Reza Darwish. -- Rose Issa

Actors

Masumeh BAKHSHI ..... Bemani
Shadi HEYDARI ..... Nasim
Neda AGHAYL ..... Delaram
Mohammad HABIBIAN ..... Bemani's Father
Turan YAGHUTI ..... Bemani's Mother