DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE

Filmmaker Kim Longinotto and anthropologist Ziba Mir-Hosseini spent six weeks in a family law court in Tehran, presided over by a male clerical judge. What they saw and documented were women from all walks of life and ages, fight alternatively with tooth and nail, humour, cunning, threat, theatricality, and passion for a dignified and equitable divorce. Jamileh is mistreated by her husband; Maryam is fighting for the custody of her children; and 16-year-old Ziba wants to divorce her 38-year-old spouse. Despite their resilience and artfulness, the fact is that the law favours the men, allowing women to divorce their husband on few grounds, such as lying at the time of marriage, madness, and addiction. However, this, often hilarious, documentary proves once again that one cannot judge a country by its legal codes, as we watch fearless chador-clad claimants stand up against judges, clerks, husbands and fathers, with a vigour that belies their subservient status. And while the filmmakers stand squarely against what they clearly view as the inequitable aspects of Islamic divorce law, with admirable impartiality their film occasionally makes us sympathize with the browbeaten defenders of the status quo.