YALDA, A NIGHT FOR FORGIVENESS / 19-26.11. / 17.00

Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg 2019, 89′
Director: Massoud Bakhshi
Cast: Sadaf Asgari, Behnaz Jafari, Babak Karimi

Maryam, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, accidentally kills her 65-year-old husband Nasser during a fight and is sentenced to death. The story is set in Iran and Maryam’s plea for forgiveness takes place on Yalda, the night of the Persian of festival, which is defined as the longest night of celebration welcoming the arrival of winter season. According to the law in Iran, Maryam, who had been married for a year, has to appear on a popular TV reality show and seek forgiveness from her stepdaughter Mona. The one-hour-long show, watched by millions across the country, is a mix of TV docudrama and variety show, where Maryam confronts Mona, who will make her decision and a text vote by viewers and the audience present in the studio will decide Maryam’s fate.