Iran sous le voile des apparences

Urged by questions about the nature of Islamic fundamentalism and the significance of the veil in present-day Iran, filmmaker Thierry Michel travelled to the Middle East. His film is an account of his journey across this bundle of contradictions. He attended massive gatherings and saw examples of religious fanaticism. Archive footage of the shah who was forced into exile in 1979 and of religious leader Khomeini who returned from exile to lead the Islamic revolution is shown in order to provide a better understanding of the recent history of this country. The filmmaker talks with relatives of martyrs, boys who were killed along with hundreds, even thousands of others at a very young age in the war against Iraq. Their mothers say with tears in their eyes that they are not sad but proud of their sons, who died for God and their country. The film also shows the dawning of reforms, launched by president Khatami, who has the reputation of being moderate. The resistance is sometimes expressed hesitantly but also decisively, among youngsters at universities, and also by elderly people. At the risk of being put behind bars without trial, they fight for the right to freedom of speech. Gradually, an image emerges of a country struggling to retain its dignity between religious fanaticism and democratic freedom.