Stockholm Film Festival

Hana Makhmalbaf's "Green Days," the first big-screen take on Iran's disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, blends fiction and documentary as it tells the story of Ava. During the election the 20-year old playwrighter takes to the streets and start talking to the gathering masses that support opposing candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, declaring that he's not perfect "…but we have to chose between not perfect and bad".

Using news footage, much of it shot on mobile phones by the protesters, including the killing of the student Neda Agha-Soltan, "Green Days" offers a multifaceted portrayal of a deeply traumatised country at a moment when hope of change is in the air only to be smashed by violence and corruption.

Filming took place on location beginning in June 2009, a month before the election, and wrapped up a few days following the election when Makhmalbaf fled the country. The film was finally edited at a secret location in Italy to avoid Iranian censorship.
LAURA PERKINS

Cast

AvaNazaninNiloufarRezvanehMarziyehMaryamAsgharBehjat

Producer

Hana Makhmalbaf

Script

Hana Makhmalbaf

Cinematography

Mohammad Yazdi

Music

Azad Aslani , Arman Aslani

Subtitle

English

 

Other films from the Asian Images section

See all the festival films from 2009