May Lady, The

1998

Farsi

Directed by: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

(88 mins) A divorced, Iranian woman confronts the contradictory desires affecting her life and work in this bold examination of the universal tensions between motherhood, womanhood and professional life. As Forough Kia, a middle-aged, documentary filmmaker, interviews women from all walks of life for a television show on "the perfect mother," she begins to question her own life, her relationship with her teenage son - who resents her dating another man, and her place in Iranian society. The winner of the Special Jury Award at the 1998 Fajr Film Festival. "Strong and heartfelt" (L.A. Weekly).

In Farsi with English subtitles.