My Tehran For Sale

Year: 2009
Country: IRAN
Run Time: 97 minutes

Marzieh meets Saman at a forbidden underground rave. As they wander off to get to know each other better, the party is broken up by the local authorities. It could be an event that might happen in any young person's life. However, the rave is in Iran and the local authorities, rather than sending everyone off towards home, round up the partygoers and detain them. Those who are wealthy enough can buy their way out of any consequence; the others will receive punishment, often in the form of a beating. Once released, Marzieh and Saman soon become engaged and they work to garner a visa to Australia, where Saman is a citizen. Their hopes start to diminish as Marzieh is forced to make life-threatening decisions. So begins this underground look at the double life of most Iranian youth. MY TEHRAN FOR SALE was filmed on the sly and unauthorized; digital footage was smuggled out of Iran in producers' backpacks. Moussavi, disenchanted with the media's portrayal of Iranian youth, risks much to make a film that addresses the one-dimensional portrayal. Although fictionalized, the film offers a very personal story and one that can't help but draw parallels to the director's own life. (In Farsi with subtitles) – C.C.P.

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