In continuation of my tribute to Persian cinema (previous article) I am still long overdue to review this stellar film of 2009 that I watched months ago and again recently with the intention to interview actor Navid Akhavan; but alas, our schedules rarely coincide to make the time to meet up so in the interim I will take this time to say a few words about ‘For A Moment, Freedom'.

Directed by Arash T. Riahi, ‘For A Moment Freedom' features an ensemble cast, focusing on multiple characters that leave everything from their homes in Iran for a supposedly better life in Europe. But in between the war-torn world they left behind and their liberated Western Europe destination, these characters find themselves stuck indefinitely in an in between place while waiting for the right bureaucratic papers.

This in between place is Istanbul, Turkey, where a family, two young men traveling with a young girl to get her to her parents in Germany, and two middle-aged men live in a hellish apartment complex under an illegal transitory status while waiting from day to day for any glimmer of hope that their visas will clear and allow them passage into Germany.

While some will pass, others will not. And while some will finally move onto to Germany, others will be forced to go back to Iran and some may even die. But that is the gamble of this in flight existence, the many risks that are taken every day by immigrants fleeing conflict zones in search of a better life. What price must each person pay for a life of freedom, or even, for just a moment?

Once again, huge props to Iranian cinema!

See the poetic, lyrical ‘For A Moment, Freedom' (2009)

Written by, Vanessa McMahon February 28, 2011