Son-Mother
Synopsis
Leila is a single working mom of two. The factory she works at faces a crisis and jobs are at stake. Kazem, the factory bus driver, proposes marriage to Leila, but she hesitates to accept his conditions. Kazem has a daughter the same age as her 12-year-old son, Amir, and since tradition frowns upon a young girl sharing a household with her step-brother, Kazem tells Leila not to bring her son until he marries his daughter off. After Leila is fired from her job, she makes the decision to stay with Kazem and leave Amir at a boarding school for deaf children for a while she tries to manage his return. There, Amir is forced to pretend he’s deaf-and-dumb, and after a few months tries to run away to search for his mother. On the run, he faces Kazem who asks him to think about his family`s future. Amir has to decide.
Cast and crew
Cast
Raha Khodairi – Actor
Mahan Nasiri – Actor
Reza Behboodi – Actor
Shiva Ordooie – Actor
Maryam Boubani – Actor
Crew
Mahnaz Mohammadi – Director
Mohammad Rasoulof – Screenwriter, Producer
Ashkan Ashkani – Director of Photography
Mohammadreza Muini – Editor
Siamak Karinezhad – Set & Costume Designer
Mehrad Mirkiani – Make-Up Designer
Hasan Shabankareh – Sound Recordist
Amir Molokpour – Music Composer
Kaveh Farnam – Producer
Farzad Pak – Producer
It is hard for me to imagine Iranian life without tragedy. The moral obligation to tradition in very unsafe situations can be extremely cruel and very effective. Leila does not have any other choice. Her life does not completely belong to her. She is supposed to live in a way that society wants for her. It is tradition that decides her fate. Amirali has to pretend to be Deaf to survive. In this “Son-Mother” relationship, I try to show a critical view of our traditions and values imposed on us by the powers that be. We have become tools of our own oppression.
Director’s Statement
Directers bio / filmography
Mahnaz Mohammadi, Iranian filmmaker & women’s rights activist
She was refused visa to attend Cannes IFF 2011 for the screening of Serkanian’s Marriage Ephemeral in which she was the lead actress. In a ceremony, Greek director Costa Gavras read out statement from Ms. Mohammadi:“I am a woman, I am a filmmaker; 2 sufficient grounds to be found guilty in my country…The struggle of women for their identity is an essential element of their everyday life… and freedom is a word that is most missing from their daily lives.”
Son-Mother (2019)
Mr Vali (2016)
Suite No 202 , (2012)
Children’s land (2007)
Travelogue (2006)
Women Without Shadow (2003)
Girl Racer (channel 4 2008)
Fire station (2007)
First coach after revolution on women’s football game (2007)
Women’s writer (2007)
Woman Taxi Driver (2007)