Synopsis
Shafie Abad is a village of the Iranian desert, submitted for centuries to traditional laws, frozen in time. But one day, a group a woman seizes cameras and gather in a collective. In their impulse, they decided to fund a weaver’s cooperative. The beginning of an emancipatory adventure, where the change of social condition involves a sight revolution.
A word from Tënk
A collaboration between filmmaker Hamed Zolfaghari and a group of women who founded a cooperative selling artisanal crafts in order to maintain full control over their work, this feature-length film is a fascinating and sensitive foray into a rural Iranian community. Demystifying the very production of a work of cinema as it’s created, this film and its context of production appear as a central mechanism to liberate and affirm these women who are driven by an inspiring strength. Women of the Sun: A Chronology of Seeing creates a space for dialogue in which they can freely explore the possibilities of a new language, thereby gaining mastery over their own stories and representation. This empowerment leads to changes in their mentalities, with a finesse that suggests the changes will persist. It’s a work that helps demonstrate the importance and richness that comes from multiplying perspectives in film and diversifying documentary approaches, if any further proof of that was necessary…
Hubert Sabino-Brunette
Teacher and programmer
