Witness

I only watched this 1998 documentary by Ziba Mir-Hosseini recently, when I became aware that it was available online through Google videos. It offers an intimate, often painful, glimpse into the lives of three women petitioning a family law court in central Tehran. Most of film is set inside the court.

Reviews were mixed when it came out, mostly because of the larger politics involved. Many objected that the film didn’t offer a more direct condemnation of the absurdities these three women encounter as a result of the IRI’s convoluted family law system and discriminatory divorce laws. Others objected to the way the women conducted themselves, or that dirty laundry was being aired in public. My own view? I don’t like to be hit over the head with a message in any film, even a message I agree with, and by the end of this one I cared a lot about what happened to the three women. So I give it a thumbs up.

For those who missed Divorce Iranian Style when it came out, here it is:

For an essay Mir-Hosseini wrote about the difficulties she encountered in making the film, click on this link.