Son-Mother

Making films in Iran is a tricky business. Take Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, both sentenced to long prison terms for making "anti-revolutionary propaganda". Mahnaz Mohammadi, director of Son-Mother, suffered the same fate: in 2014 she was sentenced to five years prison for making (too) critical documentaries. The fact that she was able to make this film is due to divisions within the regime – reform-minded forces inside it are supporting her. The result is a two-part drama about the pressure of tradition and its heart-breaking consequences.

Leila, a widow and mother to a 12-year-old son, Amir, and 2-year-old daughter Munes, can barely make ends meet with her factory job. Bus driver Kazem has proposed to her, but he has a young daughter of Amir's age and religious rules dictate that the two children cannot live under the same roof. If Leila is to marry Kazem, she will be forced to abandon her son.