Documentary Film: The Glass House by Hamid Rahmanian
Habitually, when it comes to Iranian documentaries, we’re quick to judge the cinematography and tend to have a bias for Tehran imagery. And well, our latest film for review, The Glass House, directed by Hamid Rahmanian had us at the first few scenes.
The Fictionville Studio movie is a powerful and rare look into the daily lives of a few Iranian girls, who come from troubled backgrounds, and their mentally-cleansing journey at the Omid-e-Mehr Foundation–where the girls are provided with counseling, education, and beyond. The Glass House can comfortably be watched without sound yet still, understood; you don’t even have to understand the Persian language (or bother reading the subtitles) to feel the permeating emotional distress and psychological burden these growing, young women face. We felt it right through the glass monitor.
Hamid Rahmanian’s lens follows and lucidly depicts the girls’ sometimes-shocking stories–delicately portraying the often-unpleasant aftereffects of what a lack of attention paid to women’s rights and issues can lead to–despite the difficulty usually involved in shooting in Iran and features philanthropist and Omid-e-Mehr Foundation founder, the UK-based Psychotherapist Marjaneh Halati on one of her many visits back to Tehran and the center.
“Making this documentary was difficult for Hamid Rahmanian (who put his life on hold for ten months) and for the girls in the film (who were courageous enough to reveal themselves in front of the camera.” Marjaneh tells us.
Watching The Glass House will not only make you weep (whether you like it or not) and touch you in ways you can’t imagine, but, it’ll also help you appreciate the freedom(s) you have; leaving you concerned and eager to help, yet grateful.
“From the point of view of the Omid-e-Mehr Foundation we find the film to be extremely useful for awareness-raising and fund-raising purposes.” Halati adds. “The film is very effective in telling the story of a few of the girls at Omid-e-Mehr. It would be very difficult to tell this story with this much impact without the film. We therefore would like anyone who is potentially interested in our work to see the film.”
Click here to buy your copy today and a portion of your money will be donated to Omid-e-Mehr.
Click here to learn how you can host a community screening for this movie or visit Omid-e-Mehr.org for more info about the foundation.
The Glass House by Hamid Rahmanian: Trailer
