My Tehran for Sale

Dir. Granaz Moussavi
Starring: Marzieh Vafamehr, Saman Amir Chegini, Sadaf Asha Mehrabi, Shadi Mitra Mehraban
Iran/Australia, 2009, 96 mins.

Granaz Moussavi’s stunning debut takes audiences into the private world of contemporary Tehran. Set against the dry desert landscape of the middle east, Moussavi tackles controversial topics haunting Iran’s youth, like sex, drugs, HIV, abortion, and technology, not to mention the cultural divide between “new Iran” and the old world.

At the start of the film, we meet Marzieh, a headstrong, modern woman portrayed the luminous Marzieh Vafamehr. Marzieh and a male friend have just barely escaped the police during a dance party raid, full of drugs, “scantily” dressed women, and booming rave music. What follows is Marzieh’s battle against a country still deeply-rooted in traditional values and her plotting a dangerous escape.

My Tehran for Sale is poetry in images. Soft, smoke-filled frames glittered with gold are contrasted with the bright colors of modernity and the deafening darkness of the underworld. Moussavi paints a realistic and heart-felt image of Iranian youth seemingly straddling the cultural divides in this deeply personal story.