The Red Suitcase

Cyrus Neshvad's short film is a thriller set in Luxembourg Airport and built almost entirely on silence. Ariane, sixteen and arriving from Iran, is afraid to take her red suitcase off the carousel and walk through the exit doors, because waiting beyond them is a marriage her father arranged with a man far older than her. The film explains nothing, telling all of this through a girl's face, her steps, and the small openings she finds to escape. It was shot entirely at the airport over six days in 2021 and was nominated for best live action short film at the 95th Academy Awards. When the nomination was announced, Neshvad turned the moment toward the women fighting for their rights in Iran. The short length keeps the tension from ever slackening. Who it's for: viewers drawn to a thriller approach to forced marriage and interested in the short film form. Who it's not for: those who want to know the characters' history and what comes after, or who will count an open ending as something withheld.