Zinat: One Special Day
VHS video, color, 2000, 54 minutes.
Available from First Run / Icarus Films, 32 Court Street, 21st Floor,
Brooklyn NY 11201. Website: http://www.frif.com.
Reviewed by Aaris Sherin,
Department of Art,
University of Northern Iowa,
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0362, U.S.A.
aaris.sherin@uni.edu
As woman in a small village in southern
Iran, Zinat was married at thirteen and made history six years later
by being the first woman to remove her borgheh (the mask that
women are required to wear in some countries from the time they are
married until they die) in order to become a health care worker. In
1999, Zinat became a candidate for the first local council election
to be held in 20 years. In this film, on the day of that election,
Zinat and her family are observed in real time going about their daily
tasks while waiting for the poll results. Zinats home becomes
an open forum where fellow villagers stop by to voice their reactions
to her candidacy. One visitor tries to convince Zinat to withdraw
from the election and, instead, to be content with her husband serving
on the council. This man argues that a womans place is in the
home, and that she should properly behave like any domestic animal,
remaining docile and pious as she responds to the orders of governing
males. Zinat considers the concerns of each visitor with graciousness,
while also steadfastly defending the stance that she is the best candidate
to bring much needed change to the Salakh and the surrounding villages.
Throughout this thought provoking film, Zinat is depicted as an outspoken
woman who is successfully challenging tradition and will eventually
have an effect on the growth of her community.
(Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol.
19, No. 1, Autumn 2003.)