La bambina segreta

Saw this at the Movies That Matter 2023 documentary festival in The Hague. Having seen many movies that show how life is in Iran, there are still abundant surprises in this story and its developments. As such, it is an enlightening documentary packaged in a drama around family relationships and parenthood.

A few hours before this one, I saw A Separation (2011) from the same filmmaker. Therefore, I could not imagine watching this one would be an evenso intense experience, given seemingly shallow ingredients. But I stand corrected. This is Iran, with lots of written and unwritten rules to complicate things that are straightforward in our European eyes.

I must confess my lack of knowledge about Iranian rules. While watching I thought that a confrontation with her parents would be inevitable anyway in due course, so why all the desperate attempts to hide the illegitimate baby for them. Not until the Q&A after the screening I learned that I was wrong, very wrong. Upon discovery of her illegitimate baby, she would immediately be declared an unfit mother, unsuitable to raise a child. Of course, in a patriarchal society, a father cannot be missed to properly educate a child. Her baby would be taken away and given to a childless couple waiting to adopt one. And to make matters worse: as an unfit mother, a restraining order would forever deny any access to her child, or even withheld any knowledge of the whereabouts and further life of her child.

It is not useful to summarize the various attempts and related complications that make the story. Many unexpected developments will keep your attention from start to finish, at the same time learning how little we know about the mindset behind Iranian laws and unwritten rules. And how easy it is to exploit the situation a desperate woman is in, for example the department head in the hospital, who makes an attempt to ask sexual favors from her. He failed this time (is that a spoiler??) but would probably get away with it when succeeded. This is just an example how uneven the law works in Iran for men versus women.

Finally, one minus point that I cannot avoid mentioning. For us Europeans, as I wrote earlier, it is not clear upfront why she is so determined to hide her baby for her parents. Given that this movie is apparently made to be shown outside Iran, it would have been nice to enlighten the average viewer. It would have risen the tension even more than it did already. I admit this may be a personal observation and redundant for others.