18th Romanian Film Week: Between Revolutions

Director: Vlad Petri

Cast: Victoria Stoiciu, Ilinca Harnut

In the 1970s, an Iranian student named Zahra meets a fellow student called Maria at university in Bucharest. They are both pursuing a degree in medicine and develop a deep friendship and admiration for each other. When the revolution against the Shah breaks out in 1979, Zahra goes back to Iran, moved by the hope of political transformation, although disappointments are quick to follow. Zahra never ends up returning to Romania. Over the next decades, Zahra and Maria exchange letters about protests, the general upheaval in both countries, the oppression of women and how it affects them; Romania is not to remain untouched by revolution either. Separated by the revolutions, their correspondence depicts two women struggling to conform to societal stereotypes and grappling with their profound feelings for each other, which seem to stretch beyond simple friendship. In his film, Vlad Petri draws entirely on incredible, stunningly edited archival footage from Iran and Romania to tell the story of these two women in such a way that the lines between documentary and fiction blur. In such testing times, doesn’t such a bond almost seem too good to be true?

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Maria și Zahra au fost studente la Universitatea de Medicină din Bucureşti, în anii '70. Când speranţa unei schimbări politice a devenit o certitudine, Zahra s-a întoars la ea acasă, în Iran. În următorul deceniu, singura lor modalitate de a comunica a fost prin scrisori. Încadrate de două revoluţii, cuvintele lor descriu lupta femeilor pentru a fi auzite, societăți în declin și o prietenie solidă, care nu poate fi destrămată.

Program of the 18th Romanian Fim Week>>

In the cooperation of the Romanian Cultural Intitute Budapest and the Urania National Film Theatre, with the support of the National Cultural Fund (NKA).

Awards: Berlinale and TIFF in Cluj: Film Critics Award;
ZagrebDox: special prize;
Make Dox from North Macedonia: best documentary film;
Cluj TIFF: best Romanian film.