It all amounts to a film that’s both epic and intimate in scope, presenting the joy and sorrow of a relationship placed in the wider context of a country in motion. We see footage of women at protests, undertaking self-defense drills with AK47’s, and Tayi’s arc completed in the sole image of her wearing her scarf again. It feels like an education in history – a feminist perspective of the Iranian revolution – as much as it feels like a personal catharsis for the filmmaker. Personal development runs in parallel to sweeping cultural change – Khosrovani ’s sharp writing, which imagines the dialogue between her mum and dad, with the help of two actors to narrate, unravels what the Iranian Revolution meant for women across the country as well as what it meant for this specific woman. Radiograph of a Family (2020) – source: Antipode Films From this encounter, her odyssey transforms into a period of deep self-actualisation as she finds her own identity and purpose within Iran, outside of being married to this radiologist. But as she sees more of the world with him, she discovers the work of the late revolutionary sociologist Ali Shariati and becomes his student. They meet and travel together around the world and, along their journey, he convinces her to take her headscarf off in a not-so-subtle attempt to “modernise” their image. It’s the odd couple tale of the secular progressive Muslim partnered with the traditional devout Muslim. Tayi literally marries Hussein’s photo when he’s busy studying radiology in Switzerland whilst she remains in her homeland. Told entirely through a gorgeous personal photo archive, assisted with vintage footage of Iran in the 20th century, this documentary begins as a love story between the timid Tayi and the obstinate Hossein, who get married before they even meet. Firouzeh Khosrovani ‘s thoroughly engrossing, painfully personal film is a dissection of her parents’ love lives across the divides of their political and religious beliefs. Radiograph of a Family may be the best family memoir documentary since Sarah Polley‘s Stories We Tell. Radiograph of a Family (Firouzeh Khosrovani)
Continuing with my coverage of the great films I saw at 2020’s International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA), this article will cover the festival’s big winner Radiograph of a Family plus reviews of 100UP, A Thousand Cuts, and We Are The Thousand.