Zanan-e bedun-e mardan (2009)

Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.

Directors:

Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari

Writers:

Shoja Azari, Shirin Neshat (screenplay)

Stars:

Shabnam Toloui, Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shabnam Toloui	...	Munis
Pegah Ferydoni	...	Faezeh
Arita Shahrzad	...	Farrokhlagha
Orsolya Tóth	...	Zarin (as Orsi Toth)
Ahmad Hamed	...	Gardener
Navid Navid	...	Ali (as Navíd Akhavan)
Bijan Daneshmand	...	Abbas
Essa Zahir	...	Amir Khan
Tahmoures Tehrani	...	General Sadri
Abbas Bakhtiari	...	Singer
Mehdi Moinzadeh	...	Communist Leader
Farhad Payar	...	Leading Officer
Shahrnoush Parsipour	...	Madame Pari
Said Oveissi	...	Hassan
Mithra Zahedi	...	Nahid

Storyline

Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.

---

Plot Keywords:

rape | iran | f rated | 1953 iranian coup d'etat | police crackdown | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Hungary]

Country:

Germany Austria France Italy Ukraine Morocco

Language:

Persian English

Release Date:

12 March 2010 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Women Without Men

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,404, 11 April 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$175,995, 13 June 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Essential Filmproduktion GmbH,Coop99 Filmproduktion,Coproduction Office

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The Azan that we hear through the film is Moazzenzade Ardabili's version which was recorded in 1955 while this movie takes place in 1953.

---

Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Venice Film Festival 2009 (2009)

---

Soundtracks

Shahanshi
Written by Lieutenant N. Moghadam

User Reviews

Man-aging pretty badly

More of a visual impressionist than storyteller, Shirin Neshat uses the thread of magic-realism to weave together vignettes of five besieged Iranian women. The film beautifully depicts the early fifties era in Iran, during the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi coup and rebellion against American-British usurpation. Men fare badly in this feature, with maybe one silent gardener playing a benign male role. Neshat has a gifted eye, so check out the extra features for her detail-rich explanations of film nuancing. AfroPixFlix finds 8 fig-forks for this film-festival feature.Women Without Men (Zanan-e bedun-e mardan) 2009; 91 mins Directors: Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari Writers: Shoja Azari, Shirin Neshat