Maryam fled Iran at the age of twenty, wrapped in a sheepskin and hidden among a flock of sheep crossing the mountainous border between Iran and Turkey. The revolution had just triumphed, and many of her politically active friends had been imprisoned or executed. Her family decided to save her at any cost. She left Iran and never returned. In Iran, with the help of her friends, she installs surveillance cameras in the house where her parents still live, providing a flickering connection to her past that is projected onto a screen in her home in America. When the internet in Iran is cut off, the images freeze or disappear, severing her bond with her homeland. Past and present merge and blur. This is a poetic and moving story of exile, memory and the hidden ties to places one can no longer return to; places that can only be revisited in dreams or through technology and nostalgia.

Directors: Morteza Ahmadvand, Firouzeh Khosrovani

Morteza Ahmadvand is a Tehran-based multimedia artist and filmmaker who was born in Khorramabad, Iran. He holds a Master’s degree in Painting from the University of Tehran. Having trained in painting and sculpture, he evolved his practice to encompass video and installation art, where traces of his painterly roots remain visible. Over the past decade, he has explored the intersection of visual art and cinema in his work, addressing themes such as identity, memory, and cultural coexistence. In 2020, he served as the artistic director of “Radiography of a Family”.

Born in Tehran, Firouzeh Khosrovani graduated from Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Arts in 2002. Upon returning to Iran, she earned a Master’s degree in Journalism and wrote for various Italian newspapers and magazines. She began her filmmaking journey in 2004 with “Life Train”. In 2007, she directed “Rough Cut”, a documentary about mutilated mannequins in Tehran shop windows. This film won thirteen international awards. In 2010, she created 1001 Irans, a documentary exploring how Iran is perceived abroad. She has also contributed to several international collective films, including “Espelho Meu” (2011) and “Archivio a Oriente” (2012), which were produced by Asiatica Film Mediale and Istituto Luce. In 2014, her documentary “Fest of Duty” examined a religious ceremony that introduces nine-year-old girls to Islamic beliefs. Her critically acclaimed film “Radiograph of a Family” (2020) won 34 awards, including two at IDFA. In 2022, she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.