My Stolen Revolution

by

 Nahid Persson Sarvestani, Sweden/Norway/UK, 2013, 75 min, in Swedish and Farsi with English subtitles

Winner, Rotterdam International FF, Audience Choice Award; Stockholm Tempo Doc Festival, Best Documentary

Toronto Premiere

My Stolen Relolution 02

A student activist in Iran’s 1979 revolution that overthrew the dictatorial Shah, Nahid Persson Sarvestani fled to Sweden with her baby after Islamists seized power and began persecuting leftists who had been their revolutionary allies. Three decades later, events in Iran inspire Nahid to revisit that part of her life. Prompted by brutal crackdowns on anti-government protests in 2009 and long-suppressed guilt for abandoning a younger brother to imprisonment and death, the internationally acclaimed filmmaker locates and reunites with five female activists who survived torture and terror in the Islamist regime’s jails. Now living in exile, the women share gripping accounts of how their jailers tried to break them physically and spiritually, and describe what sustained them during these horrible ordeals. With the support of these stalwart survivors, Sarvestani finds answers to haunting questions about her brother’s last days. Shifting skillfully between past and present, this deeply personal documentary is an essential resource for understanding Iran today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_1wLBm1LBM

“A deeply moving, intensely personal narrative that unfolds as [Sarvestani] reunites with an astonishingly open and eloquent group of women.” The Examiner

“Heartbreaking content triumphs in the highly emotional and personal docu “MY STOLEN REVOLUTION.” Variety

“The amazing courage these women exhibit today in their remembrances are testaments to the strength of the human spirit. It also serves as a reminder to the similarities of the political injustices that still occur in today’s Iran.” Lori Huck, Yahoo Voices Film Review Contributor

“..a stirring look at how a personal story can be swept up in the winds of history.” LA Times

“The harrowing testimony and resilience of former political prisoners is compelling…” Hollywood Reporter

“The film is a powerful testament to an unyielding human spirit.” Film Pulse

“..this essential documentary is a stirring monument to the healing joy of freedom…” LA Daily News