by Shirin Barghnavard, Firouzeh Khosrovani, Farahnaz Sharifi, Mina Keshavarz, Sepideh Abtahi, Sahar Salahshoor, Nahid Rezaei
Their profession is also their passion, but it’s a dangerous game. In the aftermath of the controversial presidential elections in 2009 and the resulting several-year phase of increased repression, seven female Iranian filmmakers open the door to their professional and personal lives. What does it mean to be a woman shooting independent documentary films in Iran? Why do people choose a career that may cost them their freedom? Inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s PROFESSION: REPORTER (1975), the question of identity forms the beating heart of this film. To be a woman and a filmmaker are identity- creating components, but they also represent two great hurdles of a repressive state.