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But when it turns out that her husband was
wrongfully executed, events take on a whole extra layer of
complexity in 'Ballad of a White Cow', a film by Iranian
directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha that is in the
running for a coveted Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
Moghaddam herself plays Mina, whose struggles with grief are
compounded first by the difficulty of dealing with her immediate
loss in social status and then by the struggle to win
compensation for her husband's wrongful death.
"Mina is fighting to survive in such a misogynistic society,
where law is a burden," Moghaddam said. "This story is not made
up - it's the story of many people in countries where there is a
death penalty."
The film, one of 15 in the Berlinale's main competition, comes
with a burden of expectation on its shoulders: last year's
Golden Bear was won by fellow Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof's 'There
is No Evil', a study of the injustices caused by capital
punishment. Rasoulof is a festival judge this year.
Securing permission to make the film took three and a half
years, Sanaeeha said, describing how it proved impossible to
film an actual prison, forcing the team to film a museum
instead.
Despite all the effort, the film is unlikely to get a showing
back home, both directors agreed.
"We hope that maybe we can find a way of showing it in Iran, but
there is very little hope of this," Sanaeeha said. "The main
audience of people who should see it are the Iranians."
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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