Seven Winters in Tehran

Steffi Niederzoll's 2023 documentary is about Reyhaneh Jabbari, who at nineteen stabbed a man who attacked her. She spent seven years in prison and was executed in 2014; to be pardoned she was required to withdraw her testimony and refused. The material was smuggled out of Iran. Recordings made within the family, letters written from prison and audio tapes form the body of the narrative; Niederzoll arranges them and joins them to her mother's account. The subject is not only the case but the family's struggle. The pardon system gives the decision to the victim's family, and the narrative shows in detail how that process worked across years. It screened in Berlin and won an award. Who it's for: those who can watch human rights documentaries. Who it's not for: viewers sensitive to sexual assault and capital punishment; the film takes both as direct subjects.