Opening 15 May 2025
Directed by:
Ali Samadi Ahadi
Writing credits:
Mohammad Rasoulof
Principal actors:
Vishka Asayesh, Majid Bakhtiari, Melika Foroutan, Zanyar Mohammadi, Tanaz Molaei
Maryam (Vishka Asayesh), her husband Behnam and the children left their home country, Iran, to settle in Germany. Actually, all settled except Maryam, who remained in Iran, to concentrate on equal rights and democracy as a political activist. The film opens with her serving six years in prison for this work. Now, she has seven days of freedom for necessary medical treatment. Behnam and her brother use this opportunity to get her out of Iran. Now we are in a road movie with a confused Maryam, who doesn’t know what’s happening. We follow her as she boards different means of transportation, alone or with others. She is on the mountains and in the snow, exchanges mobile phones, rides a horse, etc. She eventually reaches Behnam and her two children who speak mixed Persian and German (which she doesn’t understand). Now she is faced with an impossible decision: remain with her family to watch the kids grow up or return to Iran in the hopes of influencing political development, which pertains to “women, life and freedom.”
An inspiration for this film is the true story of the life of Narges Mohammadi who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her work as an Iranian who defends human rights. In 2024 she said, while in her Evin prison, “I hope my children know that I, like all ‘insubordinate’ and ‘stigmatized’ mothers, am a loving mother whose heart will always beat with intensive desire for her children.” Actress Vishka Asayesh is a real star here, who guides us through the story over seven days. The very first scene opens in Hamburg along the Elbe River. Sieben Tage played in several film festivals including the 2024 Filmfest Hamburg. (Becky Tan)
