On Tour: Grand Me
With Movies that Matter On Tour, we bring our festival favourites to seventeen film theatres across the Netherlands. In November, it is Atiye Zare Arandi’s documentary Grand Me.
About the film
Melina lives with her loving grandparents in the Iranian city of Isfahan. Her parents have divorced and neither her mum nor her dad are able to take care of their daughter. Melina wants to live with her mum in Tehran, but both her unpredictable father and her new stepfather won’t allow it. When the strong-willed Melina turns 9, she has an idea: she wants to start a custody battle. But her plans are challenged by the complicated realities of adult life.
Director Atiye Zare Arandi is also Melina’s aunt, and their close relationship provides a unique insight into her life and thoughts. From scolding her mum in the car, to getting on her dad’s nerves on the phone, to putting nail polish on her good-natured grandfather. Conflicts, phone calls and children’s games weave in and out of each other in a film that contributes a fresh perspective to the grand Iranian cinematic tradition of depicting the world of children and the incomprehensible reality of adults.