Paradise / Ma dar Behesht

Polish on fingernails. Football during break. The girls constantly push their boundaries – until a message by their head teacher orders them to stop. This is where, in a suburb of Tehran, 24-year-old Hanieh teaches with little motivation. Each morning at the break of dawn she makes the arduous bus journey into the city. For a long time, she has fought to get a post in the city center, but her application is caught up in the chaotic Iranian administration. However, her private problems take a back seat when two of her pupils disappear one day. PARADISE is a trenchant study of state education and control. Shot clandestinely in Tehran, Sina Ataeian Dena’s debut garnered two awards in Locarno.