A People in the Shadows

Directed by Bani Khoshnoudi

Documentary feature
Iran / France - 2008

92 min./ Color

 

 

Synopsis

Almost thirty years after the revolution, and twenty since the end of the long Iran-Iraq war, A People in the Shadows takes us on a voyage into the heart of Tehran, a megalopolis of 14 million people. The city is still recovering from its past, as talk of American sanctions and a possible attack resonate.
Through observation and slow sequences, the film takes an intimate look at the way people live in this immense city today. Caught up in the paradoxes and contradictions of their society, the people of Tehran are surrounded by images of past and future death, while finding ways to juggle state propaganda and foreign threat on a daily basis.

 

Director's Intentions

Although we may depict Iranians as adamant defenders of their regime, and of their version of political Islam, a closer look brings us to a whole different place. This sort of national pride or patriotism is omnipresent in the media and official spheres, but how attached are we actually to these ideas of martyrdom and the preservation of our “Islamic” values? What would war mean for the youth who struggle with this very regime who pretends to defend their “freedom” against foreign invasion? What sentiments arise when the country that you love and hate at the same time is under threat? The people in the film, just managing their daily lives in this enormous city, are stuck in the middle of a context that they did not choose.
My desire is to show an intimate view of people’s lives in Tehran, while revealing the paradoxes that they represent in today’s Iran. I wish to show a diversified view of Iranians, in places that do not normally visit, in order to instigate thought within ourselves concerning our preconceived view of a people misrepresented and distant from us. The film not only positions itself against war mongering or aggressive tendencies in world politics, but also confronts the Iranian government’s use of war and imagery from the past devastation in order to manipulate and control the Iranian people today, almost 30 years since the revolution that overthrew the Shah.







Produced by Pensée Sauvage Films with the support of the Jan Vrijman Fund