Films / Iranian Cookbook

Iran | Documentary Feature | 2010 | 72

Director: Mohammad Shirvani
Awards: Audience Award winner-Sundance
Farsi w/English subtitles
Film source: Dreamlab Films

Filmmaker Mohammed Shirvani steps into the no-man‘s land of Iranian households – the kitchen. Seven housewives talk to him as they prepare the delicious foods of Ramadan. What is cooking? Labor or love, or labor of love? This film is expertly structured: as the scenes progress and we move from one kitchen to another, we gradually grasp the underlying challenge that the filmmaker has set both for himself and for the men who have no concept of the work entailed in preparing the food they savor. The film is peppered with humor and warmth. Shirvani notes, “The kitchen is a place my mother spent over 30 years in and I never really noticed its details.” A subtle and humorous take on a women’s realm.