During the last edition of World Cinema Amsterdam, just a few weeks ago, there was a special film program dedicated to the position of women in Iran - Strong & Unwavering: Women of Iran. It was prompted by the violent death of young Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing her headscarf the "right" way. At the police station, she was mistreated, with fateful consequences. This Saturday marks exactly one year since her death.
Winner WCA Audience Award
It was not the first time such a thing happened. In 2007, 19-year-old student Reyhaneh Jabbari was sentenced to death after she stabbed to death the man who wanted to rape her. One of the films from the Women of Iran program tells her harrowing story: Seven Winters in Tehran. This documentary made a deep impression during WCA and was awarded the WCA Audience Award with a score of 4.7 on a scale of 5. The German filmmaker Steffi Niederzoll was present at the festival and was able to receive the award herself.
Her film is unfortunately not released in the Netherlands, so those who did not see it during the festival would not get to see it again, were it not for the fact that Rialto will be screening this penetrating documentary once again.
