The Ladies Room

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The Ladies Room – Filmed in a woman’s restroom located in a public park in Iran’s metropolitan center of Tehran, this documentary explodes Western stereotyping of women in Iran.

The elder who runs the washroom offers a shoulder to cry on or tough love in a place where women, many of them especially marginalized because they are prostitutes, addicts or runaways, feel safe enough to remove their veils, and draw on cigarettes and their opinions on a wide range of subjects that men cannot hear them speaking about: sex, family abuse, relationships, drugs, religion, self-mutilation.

The director (and admired actress) supplies the audience with an unflinching, detailed examination of the lives of the women who use the restroom as a gathering place. Mary Kerr, Programming Director of Silverdocs, highly praises the way private conversations establish community: “Never before have I been so surprised by a film’s candor and honesty. The Ladies’Room is an amazing testament to Mahnaz Afzali’s restraint as a filmmaker as she steps into the background and lets these women, who are second-class citizens in Iran, be themselves—totally unrestrained and surprisingly progressive.”

Director: Mahnaz Afzali (2003) / Run Time: 55 min.

Awards/Festivals:

• Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, 2003
• Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, 2004
• Vienna International Film Festival, 2004
• Adelaide Film Festival, 2005