Forbidden Womanhood
Miryam Zahirimehr, Azerbaïdjan, Iran, 2022o
Twelve-year-old Mahi lives in the countryside with her little sister and her parents. Between housework and made-up games on sandy ground, she is confronted with new questions: How does a woman get pregnant? With Mahi's mother, her curiosity is not met with explanations, but with shame, rebuke and wrong answers. Misguided and left alone, the girl continues to try to fulfill the role expected of her. But when a young man from the city comes to visit and sexually abuses Mahi, her repressed feelings become an unbearable burden.