Circumstance

To tenåringsjenter søker friheten til å være seg selv. Atafeh er den frimodige datteren i en velstående, liberal familie. Hennes beste venninne, Shireen, er stemplet på grunn av sine avdøde foreldres sterkt anti-revolusjonære tekster. Gradvis utvikler vennskapet deres seg til noe mer. De unge jentene drømmer om å få mulighet til å leve ut sine drømmer og lengsler, en umulighet i det strengt kontrollerte iranske samfunnet. Når Atafehs bror Mehran får mistanker om forholdet deres, setter han i gang en rekke forvridde planer for å splitte de forelskede jentene.

Circumstance fikk strålende kritikker etter sin verdenspremiere på filmfestivalen i Sundance i 2011 og vant festivalens publikumspris.

Maryam Keshavarz (født 1975) er en iransk-amerikansk filmskaper. Hennes første spillefilm, Circumstance (2011) hadde sin premiere på Sundance Film Festival, der den vant publikumsprisen. Hennes andre spillefilm, Viper Club (2018) hadde premiere på filmfestivalen i Toronto, og hadde Susan Sarandon i hovedrollen. Hennes nyeste film, The Persian Version (2023), hadde premiere på Sundance, hvor den vant publikumsprisen.

In English

A powerful drama that challenges our perceptions of women, love, and power dynamics in Iran.

Two teenage girls seek the freedom to be themselves. Atafeh is the outspoken daughter of an affluent, liberal family. Her best friend, Shireen, is labeled because of her deceased parents’ strongly anti-revolutionary texts. Gradually, their friendship evolves into something more. The young girls dream of having the opportunity to live out their dreams and desires, an impossibility in the tightly controlled Iranian society. When Atafeh’s brother Mehran becomes suspicious of their relationship, he sets in motion a series of twisted plans to tear apart the love-struck girls.

Circumstance received glowing reviews after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and won the festival’s Audience Award.

Maryam Keshavarz (born 1975) is an Iranian-American filmmaker. Her first feature film, Circumstance (2011), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. Her second feature film, Viper Club (2018), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and starred Susan Sarandon. Her latest film, The Persian Version (2023), premiered at Sundance, where it also won the Audience Award.