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How Dare You Have Such a Rubbish Wish (15*) + ScreenTalk with director Mania Akbari

Still from How Dare You Have Such a Rubbish Wish

Mania Akbari’s latest film considers representation of women in pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema, creating an astonishing portrait exploring female agency.

“I’m not making a film, I’m gazing into your gaze.” The latest work by Mania Akbari (One. Two. One., A Moon for My Father) draws together clips from nearly 70 Iranian films from the silent era up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, confronting the often misogynist male perspective that has dominated Iranian cinema and showing how female experience has been subjugated.

Akbari’s feminist essay film reclaims her own body, shown being tattooed in the present day, and the bodies of the women shown in the archive footage, as well as noting female activism in Iran, a subject which has dominated recent headlines.

This screening will be followed by a ScreenTalk with director Mania Akbari, hosted by archive researcher Maria Paradinas.

Tagged with: Cinema ScreenTalks

2022 Iran, UK Dir Mania Akbari 72 min

Please note that this film contains footage of archive fiction films depicting acts of misogyny, including sexual violence and suicide.

Showing with

The Sparrow is Free

Through a window into the life of the filmmaker's grandmother, Kohandel's short interview-film explores gender roles in early 20th-century Iran.

2021 Iran, UK Dir Niki Kohandel 14 min

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