Birds Eye View : Out Now : Women Without Men

Women Without Men

Filmmaker: Directed by Shirin Neshat

Germany | Austria | France / 2010 / 95 min / Persian

Opening Weekend Date: 11 June 2010

Read our exclusive interview with director Shirin Neshat on the BEV blog.

In her feature-film debut, renowned visual artist Shirin Neshat offers an exquisitely crafted view of Iran in 1953, when a British- and American-backed coup removed the democratically elected government. Adapted from the novel by Iranian author Shahrnush Parsipur, the film weaves together the stories of five individual women during those traumatic days, whose experiences are shaped by their faith and the social structures in place.

With a camera that floats effortlessly through the lives of the women and the beautiful countryside of Iran, Neshat explores the social, political, and psychological dimensions of her characters as they meet in a metaphorical garden, where they can exist and reflect while the complex intellectual and religious forces shaping their world linger in the air around them. Looking at Iran from Neshat's point of view allows us to see the larger picture and realize that the human community resembles different organs of one body, created from a common essence.

Shirin Neshat

Iranian-born visual artist Shirin Neshat is known for her hauntingly beautiful explorations of Islam and gender relations. Over the past 15 years, Neshat has created provocative expressions drawn on her personal experiences in exile, and on the widening political and ideological rift between the West and the Middle East. Her potent statements in still and moving images evoke the struggles that define her.