Women Without Men (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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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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 bathhouse shown in the movie is in Turkish style and everyone is wearing blue and white clothes while in Iranian bathhouses people usually wear red and black clothes.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Chachme Nast
Written and performed by Molook Zarrabi

User Reviews

The CIA and the rights of women in Iran

Women Without Men (2009) is an Iranian film whose original title is Zanan-e bedun-e mardan. It was directed by Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari. The title "Women Without Men" is misleading, because the women are only "without" men because they are able temporarily to escape from the men in their lives by moving to a rural estate.

The movie takes place in 1953, when the CIA helped overthrow the democratic government of Iran and put the Shah into power. Some of the women are running from government oppression, and some of them are running from the oppression of the men in their lives.

The women in the film had few acceptable options--probably an accurate reflection of the lives of women in Iran during this period. It's a grim situation, and it's depicted in a grim film. I don't have the expertise to know how faithful the film is to the novel on which it's based, or to the reality of events in 1950's Iraq. That information will have to come from an expert. (My guess is that the portrayal of women's lives is pretty accurate.)

This is a powerful film. We saw it at the excellent Rochester 360-365 film festival--dumb name but great festival. There's enough in this film to make it worth seeing, but, in my opinion, not enough to warrant seeking it out at all costs. It should work well on a small screen.