Steffi Niederzoll delicately and with great care lays out the story of 19-year-old architecture student Reyhaneh Jabbari, who, in 2007, stabbed a man in self-defence after he tried to rape her. Jabbari was then arrested and sentenced to death. During the next seven years of the judicial process, Jabbari’s supporters scramble to save her, revealing the rotten, prejudiced state of Iran’s justice system. Drawing on footage smuggled out of the country, the film includes interviews with Jabbari’s family members and former prison inmates, who bravely criticize Iran’s patriarchal establishment. Both infuriating and heartbreaking, Niederzoll’s film is another reminder of the suffering Iranian women have endured for decades. And of the resilience of those who are still speaking up and sharing their voices and their stories for the world to hear. Seven Winters in Tehran is a compelling true-crime narrative using the facts of the case to call attention to the dissolution of women’s rights in Iran. For those interested in human rights, true-crime, masterful documentaries or cinema that is urgent, compelling and profoundly moving, this is strongly recommended.
Germany/France
2023
Focus
In Farsi with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Melanie Andernach
Producer
Knut Losen
Screenwriter
Steffi Niederzoll
Cinematography
Julia Daschner
Editor
Nicole Kortlüke
Director
Steffi Niederzoll
Steffi Niederzoll was born in Nuremberg in 1981. She studied audiovisual media arts at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM) and the Escuela de Cine y Television in Cuba (EICTV) from 2001-2007. Her short films have successfully screened at numerous renowned national and international film festivals such as Berlinale. Together with Shole Pakravan, she wrote the book How to Become a Butterfly, which will be published by Berlin Verlag in 2023.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Richest Woman in the World
Isabelle Huppert plays cosmetics CEO Marianne in this teasingly ambivalent satire inspired by the Bettancourt Affair, when L'Oreal heir Francoise Bettancourt scandalized France by frittering away her fortune on a notorious celebrity photographer.
Departures
Two lads meet at an airport gate and begin monthly trips to Amsterdam together. Their chemistry is off the charts, but it's Jake who's calls the shots while Benji is the one who's emotionally invested. Comparisons to Pillion and Trainspotting are on mark.
The Python Hunt
Strange but true: the Florida Everglades are overrun with unwanted visitors. Not tourists, but invasive Burmese pythons decimating the local critters. The state's solution: an annual contest: $10 000 to whomever bags the most snakes in ten days.
Mistura
This foodie film from Peru tells the story of a newly single socialite reinventing herself — and the local cuisine — after her husband has left her for a younger woman. Along the way, she finds support from unexpected places...