Honestly, Iranian cinema never disappoints me. Nahid, the second directorial effort by Ida Panahandeh is the story of a single woman who tries to support herself and her son by overcoming all the difficulties that exist due to the social pressure of her environment.
Nahid (Sareh Bayat) has been divorced for more than two years and has earned custody of her teenage son, a boy who causes her a lot of problems because of his inobedience and his revolutionary spirit. Her ex husband, Ahmad (Navid Mohammadzadeh) is a really damaged man, a drug and gambling addict who doesn't take his responsibilities seriously and yet claims that he still loves Nahid. She, however, has to make all ends meet on her own and is quite unsuccessful. Nahid, despite the fact that she works as a typist, owes a lot of money to her landlord and always borrows money (or jewellery for that matter) from her friends in order to pay her son's private school as well as other everyday expenses.
Nahid, also faces one more problem. She is in love with a hotel owner named Masoud (Pejman Bazeghi). Masoud loves her very much and even proposes to her but little does he know that Nahid can maintain custody of her child only under the condition that she'll never remarry. Thus a series of events starts to unravel, as Nahid and Masoud get married "temporarily" (a situation that allows them never to change their marital status on any government papers).Nahid tells a fascinating story of a really interesting subject. Sareh Bayat is a trully talented actress and manages to make us sympathize with her troubled heroine who more than once becomes herself's own enemy. You see, Nahid tries to make the right choices for everyone by making the wrong ones for herself. This small iranian film was a satisfactory exception during this rather disappointing festival and I once again find myself in awe of how modern the iranian cinema can be and how universal our needs for love, acceptance and happiness are wherever we might be living.
Nahid was shown on the 8th day of the AIFF, Thursday October 1st.
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