Romania / Croatia / Qatar / Iran 2023, 68 min, Farsi and Romanian, Hebrew & English subtitles

They met in the late 1970s, as medical school classmates at Bucharest University, and bonded deeply and quickly. When calls to depose the Shah grew louder in Iran, Zahra left the university and returned home, hoping to take part in the forging of a new liberated society. Maria, who remained in Romania, completed her studies and was sent to work as a doctor in a remote town, until a revolution swept through her country as well, causing both elation and immense hardship. The decade-long correspondence between Maria and Zahra reveals the hopes, disappointments, and struggles of two young women fighting for their place and identity amid historic upheavals. The film is composed of real-time footage of the events in Iran and Romania, as well as letters and documents captured by the Romanian secret police.

Previous Festivals: Berlinale, Sarajevo Film Festival, IDFA (Best Pitch Award, dok.incubator)

Vlad Petri is a film director interested in political and social subjects, often mixing personal images with official archives. His films, at the border between documentary and fiction, have been shown in international film festivals like Berlin, Rotterdam, Sarajevo or Jihlava. He won three Romanian GOPO awards - for Best Debut (2015) and Best Short Documentary film (2021, 2022). His selected filmography includes BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS (2023), THE SAME DREAM (2021, short), THE DEER PASSED IN FRONT OF ME (2020, short) and WHERE ARE YOU BUCHAREST? (2014).

Production: Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Oliver Sert
Production Company: Activ Docs
Script: Lavinia Braniște, Vlad Petri
Editing: Cătălin Cristuțiu, Vlad Petri, Dragoș Apetri
Sound Design: Filip Mureșan, Vlad Voinescu

Supporters & Broadcasters: Romanian Cultural Institute - Tel Aviv