MAIN DRAMATIC COMPETITION “MAKING WAY”

TOORHAYE KHALI

2023 / 101 min / color

Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi) and Narges (Sadaf Asgari) are in their early 20s and madly in love. But the strict social customs and class divisions that still govern Iranian society stand in the way of their happiness and potential marriage. Amir comes from a poor, lower class family, so he works part-time as a waiter, trying to save money for a dowry and get Narges’s father’s approval; in the meantime, the couple has to keep their relationship a secret. After getting fired from a restaurant, Amir is desperate; he gets a job at a local fishery where he becomes involved in a lucrative but highly illegal business. Meanwhile Narges tries at all costs to postpone the arranged marriage planned for her by relatives. Behrooz Karamizade’s debut feature blends dramatic realism with the conventions of crime and action movies. He shows how the two protagonists are forced to confront tradition, hierarchies and social divisions as well as a corrupt reality where feelings don’t have much currency.

• Adelaide IFF – Best Feature;
• Pingyao IFF – Special Mention;
• Munich FF – Young German Cinema Award