Circumstance

Iranian coming of age film about soul mates Atafeh and Shireen who discover their awakening love for each other and dream of freedom in contemporary, ultraconservative Iran.

Present-day Tehran. Sixteen-year-old Atafeh comes from a prosperous liberal family. Her best friend Shireen, lives in with her uncle after the death of her parents, who were ferocious opponents of the Iranian regime. Since homosexuality is considered a sin in Iran and is therefore prohibited by law, the young women have to be careful in expressing their feelings for each other. Under close community surveillance, the teenage girls play give and take between their true identity and the traditional lifestyle that is imposed on them.

Director Maryam Keshavarz shows the hidden face of modern-day Iran that usually remains invisible to outsiders: an exciting world with illegal night clubs, where young people risk getting arrested for experimenting with sex, drugs and rebellion, while they try to stay out of the hands of the authorities.