Directed in 1977 by Marva Nabili, The Sealed Soil occupies a unique place in the history of Iranian cinema: the work of a female director who remains largely absent from accounts of the New Wave, the film remained unseen for a long time, both in Iran and elsewhere. Its originality lies above all in its form — almost entirely without dialogue — which uses gestures, silences, and the rhythms of daily life as the fabric of the narrative. Through the story of a young peasant woman who refuses the marriage imposed upon her, Nabili also portrays a rural world threatened by modernization. Shot in six days, the film remains striking for the measured radicalism of its directorial choices. Jérôme Baron
Unseen in France · Restored print · First feature film
SUN 22 > 6:45 PM
THU 26 > 8:00 PM
