Teheran Tabu

TEHRAN TABOO interweaves the stories of several young people trying to build lives for themselves in contemporary Tehran. Pari, forced into prostitution while caring for her young son, searches for a way out of her precarious situation. Sara, trapped in an unhappy marriage, struggles against the restrictions imposed on her, while the musician Babak and his girlfriend Donya find themselves confronting the consequences of social and religious expectations. As their lives intersect, the film reveals a society marked by profound contradictions. Public morality and private behavior rarely align, and many of the characters are forced to navigate systems of corruption, hypocrisy and control in order to pursue even the most basic forms of freedom and happiness. Relationships, sexuality and personal freedom become matters of constant negotiation and risk. Unable to film openly in Iran, director Ali Soozandeh combined live-action performances with rotoscope animation to recreate Tehran on screen. The result is a vivid portrait of a city rarely depicted in cinema, where everyday life unfolds between official restrictions and hidden realities. Directed by Ali Soozandeh, TEHRAN TABOO premiered in the Critics’ Week section of the Cannes Film Festival 2017, where it was nominated for both the Caméra d'Or and the Critics’ Week Grand Prize. The film was later screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it received a nomination for the Cristal for Best Feature Film, and won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best International First Feature at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Through its distinctive visual style and intertwined narratives, TEHRAN TABOO offers a striking examination of desire, repression and everyday survival in contemporary Iran.