A Sisters' Tale

You have filmed your sister for 7 years. What was the initial spark, what led to it?

My sister Nasreen got married traditionally, gave birth to two children, and took on a housewife role. On the verge of turning forty, she was struggling with postpartum depression, had gained 47 kilos of excess weight, and was not at all happy with her married life. Looking for ways to save her midlife crisis, she felt nothing could heal her but freeing her voice. The story of my sister and the journey she embarked on was very familiar to me. As a woman, I had fought to find my identity and personal independence as a female filmmaker in a patriarchal environment full of prohibitions and limitations. I knew the hardships she would face on her path and how much she would suffer.

As a sister, I would have preferred her to forget her passion and focus on her family life. But as a woman, I gave her the right to have a dream and to fight for its realization, discover her identity away from the identity of the wife and mother she was. And as a filmmaker, I picked up my camera and started recording her life with many questions as a woman myself.

Did you expect from the beginning that it would be such a long process?

As a filmmaker, my constant presence for my sister carried a clear message: “You are not alone. I believe in your chosen path, and as a woman and a sister, I will stand by you until you achieve your dream on your journey. This meant I would stay with her until the end of her journey, regardless of how long the process would take.

However, other issues also didn’t make the elapsed time ineffective. Firstly, I made this film in a single-person documentary style. Considering the challenges of producing a documentary film, it’s understandable that preparing everything requires more time and energy when one person is responsible for everything.

Also, over the years, significant historical and political events that occurred in my country have had a profound impact on prolonging the production process.

And by the way; when the character of my film is a sensitive and artistic woman with many emo- tional and mental complexities, she could easily ask me to leave her alone with my camera so she can take a break for a while.

Were there moments during this time when you wanted to give up or abandon the project—did you experience times of doubt, and if so, which ones?

I can answer this question from two perspectives:

As a filmmaker, doubt, questioning, and curiosity have been the most crucial elements driving my work and life. Over the years, I’ve evolved alongside Nasreen, and our goals have continuously undergone transformation and reinterpretation. Doubting, asking questions, and reassessing everything have been inevitable. As a woman, whenever I looked at my sister’s children and con- templated their future and the impact of Nasreen’s decisions on their destiny, I constantly asked myself, “Am I standing on the right side? Am I doing the right thing?”.

Has working on this project led you to new insights, and if so, what are they?

Working on this film has equipped me with new insights and skills, particularly those I developed as an independent artist. My abilities in storytelling, cinematography, and directing were consis- tently put to the test. I encountered situations and characters familiar to us all: everyday people and the unceasing flow of life. The challenge was to transform this ordinary narrative into some- thing captivating and profound. I continually examined past paths and future directions to main- tain their coherence over seven years while staying focused on my objective. This approach has provided me with a broad guideline in my personal life: how to sustain steady and incremental progress.

Why might people in other countries be interested in this story?

Through this film, I strive to picture the indoor space of Iranian family life with all its nuances. The struggles of Nasreen with her unloving husband is a human issue we can all understand. Her mid- life crises, her tender love for her children, and her vulnerabilities when it comes to making choic- es are themes many women worldwide could relate to. If I were to summarize it, people might be interested in this film because it is not only about my family and my sister but also a universal story about daring to dream as a Human and fighting for it.

Is there something particularly precious to you in working with your sister and on the film?

Yes, there is something particularly precious to me in both my sister and the film. When I decided to make a film about my sister’s journey to achieve her dream, she was alone. I chose to accom- pany her, and through this journey, “she” became “we.” Together, we found greater strength, our motivations strengthened, and our path smoother. Neither of us could have endured and contin- ued without the other. We also discovered deeper meanings of being human and being a woman. We became mirrors for each other, and by seeing each other’s weaknesses, shortcomings, and vulnerabilities, we gained a better understanding of ourselves.