From Iran to Afghanistan: Women's cinema of resistance

"The two films couldn't be more different: "No Good Men," by Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat is a feel-good romantic comedy, while "Roya," by Iranian director Mahnaz Mohammadi, is a distressing psychological drama. Still, despite their contrasting styles, the works have one thing in common: They feature the distinctive directorial approaches of two female filmmakers who drew on their personal experiences of injustice in their autocratic home countries. "No Good Men" and "Roya" both celebrated their world premiere at this year's Berlin International Film Festival."

"Shahrbanoo Sadat's "No Good Men" opened the festival on February 12. The director's previous feature films, "Wolf and Sheep" (2016) and "The Orphanage" (2019), were previously well received at the Cannes Film Festival. In "No Good Men," described as Afghanistan's first romantic comedy, Sadat also plays the lead role of Naru, a camerawoman who proves her professional merit at a Kabul TV station, as she manages to document how other women feel about men in the country."

"In many ways, this is a flourishing period in Naru's life, but it happens to take place just before the Taliban's second takeover of the country, which interrupts the two-decade era of post-Taliban democratization, from 2001-2021. In the film, Naru and her female friends are liberated and openly discuss their relationship problems. In one scene, they joke around at the office with a dildo brought back from the US as a present for Naru."

Two female filmmakers premiered contrasting films at the Berlin International Film Festival: Shahrbanoo Sadat's feel-good romantic comedy "No Good Men" and Mahnaz Mohammadi's distressing psychological drama "Roya." Sadat also stars as Naru, a Kabul TV camerawoman who documents other women's feelings about men while proving her professional merit. Naru is a single mother who faces harassment from her ex and develops a new bond with a male colleague. The film is set just before the Taliban's second takeover, interrupting two decades of post-Taliban democratization. Naru and her friends are portrayed as liberated, middle-class women.

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