The Glass House

In the country of Iran, where traditional gender roles dominate, Tehran's Omid e Mehr Center stands out as a place where 35 women between the ages of 15 and 25 receive vocational training for 18 months in order to learn how to live independently. Director Hamid Rahmanian profiles Western-educated founder Marjeneh Halati and four participants, filming the women at home and at the center, where they take classes and meet with social workers. A victim of domestic abuse, 20-year-old Sussan and her mother haven't spoken for years. When she checks out a computer, Sussan's “temporary husband” (a practice that Iranians refer to as a sigheh) breaks it. With a history of arrests for petty crimes, 19-year-old Nazila pours her frustrations into the raps she records. “I'm putting my life into this,” she explains, but she can't tell her father because he wouldn't approve; the law forbids her either performing or distributing her work. Like Nazila, 16-year-old Mitra is motherless, while 14-year-old Samira grew up with a drug dealer who fed her narcotics to keep her quiet (she enters rehab for the second time during the course of the documentary). Throughout, the quartet continue to experience problems with their families, housing situations, and even each other, revealing a side of Iran rarely shown to the West—women who swear, fight, and speak their minds. With little parental support, these women look to the charismatic Halati as a surrogate mother, and although she can't meet all their needs, they would truly be lost without her. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)