Women Without Men

Iranian-born, New York-based visual artist Shirin Neshat made her film directing debut in Women Without Men, which won the Silver Lion Award at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. Based on Shahrnush Parsipur's acclaimed 1990 novel, the film explores the tumultuous lives of four Iranian women set against the political upheaval in 1953 that resulted in a CIA-backed coup that overthrew the nation's democratically elected leadership. The women hail from different economic backgrounds, but share a common awakening that is mirrored in the political turmoil spilling onto the streets of Tehran. One of the women purchases an orchard outside Tehran that winds up serving as a mystical place of healing for the others, even though they realize that the sanctuary will not withstand the violence unleashed by the coup. The story is enriched by a strong ensemble cast that includes Arita Shahrzad as the wealthy middle-aged orchard-buyer whose personal life is reduced to shambles, Orsi Tóth as a prostitute trying to escape her humiliating existence, Shabnam Tolouei as a 30-year-old unmarried woman who is all but enslaved by her fundamentalist brother, and Pegah Ferydoni as a devoutly religious woman who secretly longs to marry that same brother. Women Without Men, which was shot in Morocco (Neshat is barred from returning to Iran), is a powerful and disturbing drama about self-empowerment that transcends borders. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)