Hush! Girls Don't Scream

Pouran Derakhshande's 2013 Iranian film follows a young woman who kills a man hours before her wedding. The murder is entirely unexpected; as her past is examined, two failed attempts at marriage and a trauma reaching much further back come to light. The subject is the sexual abuse of children and the fact that it is not discussed in Iran. Derakhshande builds this through a courtroom narrative; as the woman's lawyer tries to uncover the truth, she runs into a structure in which everyone knew and stayed silent. The film had difficulty reaching cinemas in Iran and provoked debate. Against that it drew unexpected audiences and brought the subject into public discussion on this scale for the first time. Derakhshande has worked as a woman director for many years. Who it's for: those able to watch films about social taboos in Iran. Who it's not for: viewers who do not want to approach child abuse; the film addresses it directly and centrally.