The Ladies’ Room
The Ladies’ Room
Documentary by Mahnaz Afzali
Filmed in a womans restroom located in a public park in Irans metropolitan center of Tehran, this documentary explodes Western stereotyping of women in Iran. The elder who runs the washroom offers a shoulder to cry on or tough love in a place where women—many of them especially marginalized because they are prostitutes, addicts or runaways—feel safe enough to remove their veils, and draw on cigarettes and their opinions on a wide range of subjects that men cannot hear them speaking about: sex, family abuse, relationships, drugs, religion, self-mutilation. The director (and admired actress) supplies the audience with an unflinching, detailed examination of the lives of the women who use the restroom as a gathering place.
Documentary by Mahnaz Afzali
Filmed in a womans restroom located in a public park in Irans metropolitan center of Tehran, this documentary explodes Western stereotyping of women in Iran. The elder who runs the washroom offers a shoulder to cry on or tough love in a place where women—many of them especially marginalized because they are prostitutes, addicts or runaways—feel safe enough to remove their veils, and draw on cigarettes and their opinions on a wide range of subjects that men cannot hear them speaking about: sex, family abuse, relationships, drugs, religion, self-mutilation. The director (and admired actress) supplies the audience with an unflinching, detailed examination of the lives of the women who use the restroom as a gathering place.