Melisa Sözen in "Roya," by Mahnaz Mohammadi. PAKFILM
One month after the brutal crackdown on the Iranian people, who had taken to the streets en masse in January, the world premiere of Roya by Mahnaz Mohammadi at the Berlinale made a strong impression. Presented in the Panorama section, this psychological thriller is inspired by the real-life experiences of the filmmaker, born in 1975, who endured the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. The film was unveiled toward the end of the festival, with the 76th edition concluding on Sunday, February 22.
The body and sensory experience are at the heart of Roya. Told in fragmented episodes, the drama explores the ordeal of an Iranian political detainee, the eponymous Roya, portrayed by Turkish actress Melisa Sözen.
A documentary filmmaker whose works include Travelogue (2006), which was screened in Paris in 2010, Mohammadi has been arrested several times since 2009 and was detained for seven months in Evin Prison, Tehran. In 2014, she was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for "propaganda against the regime" and "gathering and colluding against the state," a sentence later extended to seven years. In France, the Society of Film Directors launched a petition at the time, signed by over 2,000 filmmakers worldwide. Although her sentence was later overturned due to lack of evidence, the director never regained full freedom: Her passport, for instance, remained confiscated from 2009 to 2019.
