Shahrbanoo
One American woman’s encounter with a super-conservative Iranian family in Tehran.
Editor’s note: This film is no longer available online.
Melissa Hibbard made an unusual choice for an American – she married an Iranian.
During a visit to meet her new husband’s family in Tehran, she made a new friend – the family’s housekeeper, Shahrbanoo.
It was the beginning of an extraordinary trip deep into the heart of conservative Iran – a journey she decided to document on camera.
This warm and very personal film eavesdrops on their conversations, from intense discussions about politics and women’s roles in society, to intimate domestic scenes with Shahrbanoo’s own family in one of Tehran’s poorest areas.
In their insightful film, Melissa and her husband Hamid Rahmanian share with us this journey into an Iran rarely seen outside its borders – a testimony to the hidden ties that connect us across vast cultural gulfs.
Shahrbanoo can be seen from Sunday, May 30, 2010.