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
Sentimental Value
A once-revered director crashes back into his family’s lives, eager to recruit his daughter for a film role. When she declines, he finds a new muse in an eager but unpolished Hollywood star, sending his botched reconciliation spiraling into chaos.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.
Cutting Through Rocks
Winner of Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shahverdi — motorcyclist, midwife, and first-ever councilwoman elected in her Iranian village. A vérité triumph by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni.
A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
Cousin Harley + Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Come join Local Hillbilly heroes Cousin Harley, for a night of traditional Rockabilly, Western Swing and early Rock n Roll before reveling in the rock n roll biopic excess of John C Reilly as the legendary Dewey Cox!