
Sundance Review: ‘Life After’ is a Critical and Multidimensional Exploration of Medical Aid in Dying and Disabilities
January 28, 2025
Sundance Review: ‘Sorry, Baby’ is a Staggering, Extraordinary Debut from Eva Victor
January 28, 2025Even those countries in which gender equality is a supposed norm and great progress has been made to diminish millennia-long deference to men, it’s not easy to be a woman in politics. The same actions and attitudes may be judged as motivated by inappropriate and insuppressible emotion when performed by women, while men will be seen as bold and strong for their unconventional choices. In rural Iran, councilwoman Sara Shahverdi faces daily uphill battles to perform the functions for which she’s been elected thanks to a system that isn’t set up to allow a woman to succeed.
Shahverdi has accomplished a great deal in just thirty-seven years of life, the most recent of which is her unlikely election to a position of power within her local government. Her earlier career as a midwife means that she has deep connections to many residents of her village, and she even delivered some of the people who voted for her. She is also able to relate to many of the young girls who she impresses by visiting their classrooms and showing them how she wears three pairs of pants so that she’s always ready to hop on her motorcycle and start riding, an impressive and atypical feat all on its own.
There is no particular flair to this documentary from first-time feature filmmakers Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, simply following Shahverdi around as she speaks with inhabitants of her village and runs into predictable obstacles that slow her progress down considerably. But there’s no need for anything extra since Shahverdi is a fascinating subject whose very essence is straightforwardness, determined to deliver on the promises she has made and to not let those who want to stop her from advancing get in her way.
This film is remarkably eye-opening, showcasing the absurdity of certain hurdles Shahverdi must overcome. When she hires contractors to begin a construction project, she returns shortly after they’ve begun work to find that they have changed the plan because think they know better, and promptly yells at them to do it the way that she asked since she has in fact thought it out and calculated the most efficient and effective solution. She even has to contend with being called in by the authorities under suspicion of actually being a man since she doesn’t adhere to the standards that have been set for women and don’t expect them to want to achieve anything like what Shahverdi has done.
This is an unflinchingly honest portrait of someone who has done a great deal, but it doesn’t come without its share of heartache. In her meetings with students who look up to her, Shahverdi warns against the pressure to get married early and give up on personal ambitions. Later, she reviews a photo of the girls in that classroom and learns just how many of them have done exactly that. Shahverdi is well aware that she can’t change the system entirely but still holds on to the drive to make things better and to make a difference where she can, even if that opens her up to further scrutiny and being told that she should just get married so that she doesn’t continue ruffling feathers.
While this nonfiction film showcases a real place in Iran, this is an unfortunately relatable story that could take place in many corners of the world. Shahverdi’s perseverance is admirable, and the fact that she lives somewhere in which female modesty and submission are so emphasized only adds to the remarkable nature of what she’s able to accomplish. The film’s title is all too appropriate, a formidable profile of someone who is used to finding creative solutions since the existence she inhabits doesn’t always allow room for her to do all that she’s set out to do.
Movie Rating: 8/10