زنان آفتاب: یک‌گاه نگاری درباره دیدن
Directed by Hamed Zolfaghari • 2020 • Iran/France
A workshop in a small desert village in South Central Iran is set up to teach villagers how to use a camera to make short videos. The remote village faces many issues including drought, poverty, and a frustrated youth population. A group of six young women attend the workshop and decide to film their greatest struggle in the village, women’s social and economic limitations. The group decides to organize for better wages and film the process while they tackle issues of social freedom and religious restrictions. Their work stirs controversy and the women are confronted with an outcry against their filming from conservative community members. Nonetheless they screen their video at the local mosque and for the first time since they started, dozens of women begin to join their efforts, expanding the six-person group to one of several hundred participants. Filmed over the course of four years from the perspective of different video group members, this film shows how a camera and a group of six determined women can open new worlds for themselves and their community, one shot at a time.