"Yalda" Balances Life and Death on TV

"Yalda, The night of forgiveness" by Massoud Bakhshi -

• In "Yalda, The Night of Forgiveness", a young woman sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, can only hope to be saved by the latter's daughter.

• It is during a television program that the forgiveness of the young woman will be granted or not.

• This very strong film, awarded at Sundance, exaggerates the reality of a real Iranian show to paint beautiful portraits of women.

A young woman sentenced to death for murdering her husband can only hope to be saved by the latter's daughter.

But if the pitch of

by Massoud Bakhshi sends shivers down your spine, it is because it is during a television program that forgiveness will be granted or not.

This powerful film from the director of

(2012), awarded at Sundance, propels the viewer on the set of this show.

And it is as disturbing as it is fascinating.

"I was inspired by a real Iranian television show" explains the filmmaker to

Even if he has obviously adapted reality to realize his fiction.

This

was broadcast from 2007 to 2018 during the month of Ramadan in front of millions of viewers.

Believed to be responsible for the death of a much older man who had become her husband, Maryam (Sadaf Asgari), 22, hopes for the public forgiveness of Mona (Behnaf Jafari), the deceased's daughter, in order to escape hanging.

Manipulated by a production eager to maintain the audience of the show, the two young women tear themselves apart on the air.

Exaggerated just enough

“The real show spoke about forgiveness, underlines the director, but it did not put the guilty and the victims face to face.

Neither did she decide between the life and death of the candidates.

“I also invented the fact that the public could vote by text,” he says.

In short, I exaggerated everything, insists the filmmaker, but several friends told me, half fig, half grape, that I should file the concept of the show that could be exploited, especially in the United States.

"

View this post on Instagram

Remember of this wonderful night at @berlinale!

With the director of @yaldamovie: @massoudbakhshiofficial & @ behnazjafari53!

Thanks!

#cinema #cine # berlinale2020 #yalda #iran #iraniancinema #iraniancinematography #tehran #berlin # l4l #art #artlife

A post shared by YALDA, LA NUIT DU PARDON (@yaldamovie) on Mar 14, 2020 at 4:36 am PDT

A life in the balance

In the real show, cases of all kinds were mentioned and not just those involving women.

“For my film, I chose to paint mainly female portraits,” continues Massous Bakhshi.

Those I represent come from different social classes.

The culprit, former employee of her more fortunate accuser, can only humble herself before the one who holds her destiny in her hands.

"The original show was intended to make people think about the notion of forgiveness, to invite everyone to put themselves in the place of the other to try to understand it", specifies the filmmaker. 

the concept even further by putting a life in the balance.

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