More than 10 years ago, I was introduced to the stunning and unique works of a great photographer, Shirin Neshat, at an exhibition in London. I clearly remember how powerful and inspiring her works were at the time and how surprised I was by her talent and art.

On Saturday, September 19th at the TIFF, I watched her first feature film, for which she received the best direction award at the Venice Film Festival. Although the framing and cinematic shots of the film were truly breathtaking, I would have probably expected to see a better storyline as an adaptation from the book “Women without Men”. However, according to the author of the book, Shahrnush Parsipur, herself present at the Q&A session in the first screenings of the film a week prior, Ms. Neshat changed the story to a certain degree and added some parts to the original. The four characters of the women in the story were really engaging and, in my opinion, could have be displayed in a more powerful way. My overall experience was positive, but I rather consider Ms. Neshat as a great photographer and perhaps not so much a director.

S