None deal with ongoing civil unrest there, but it colors the filmmakers work and life.
The woman-led revolution inIranbroke out while we were directing the film and it really propelled us to finish it.
Shayda (played by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, 2022 Cannes Best Actress winner forHoly Spider) is Niasaris mother.
L-R, Pat Mitchell with Maryam Keshavarz, Noora Niasari and Sierra Urich
It won the 2011Sundance Film FestivalAudience Award.
I cant go back.
I can go, but I cant leave.
But I do dream about going back.
It was very hard for me.
My grandmother passed away recently and I couldnt go back.
Niasari said she faces a similar situation.
But sometimes we have to make those choices as artists.
Its a very difficult position to be in when you have family there.
I guess thats the cost of telling the truth, and telling our truth.
The first-time director said she begam grappling with the risk just asShaydawas about to be financed.
Can I go back to Iran?
Because I was putting her in this position too.
Ulrich, here with documentaryJoonam, grew up in rural Vermont.
Her mother, Mitra, had moved to the U.S just before the Iranian revolution.
Unlike Keshavarz and Niasari, shes never been to Iran but has longed to go.
But what other choice do we have?
In October, the court overturned the conviction and called for a retrial.
Its been an ongoing struggle for decades.
