Arquivo / 49ª mostra

Director Narges Shahid Kalhor no longer wants to be called “Shahid” (martyr) as her surname and casts an actress as herself, who is supposed to set about changing the family name. All of a sudden, her bizarre great-grandfather appears. A man who was declared a martyr in Iran after his heroic death a hundred years ago and thus bequeathed to his descendants the honorific “Shahid”. He seeks to prevent his great-granddaughter from going through with her plan. The temporal layers blend into each other and a nerve-racking quarrel arises between the director and her actress. Everyone’s plans come to nought, while the film shifts between reality, fiction, theatre and musical.

Winner of the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (CICAE) award in the Forum section at the Berlin International Film Festival.