![]() This deeply moving, intimate yet universal film will stay with you long after the curtain closes. Striking cinematography and remarkable performances work together to tell a captivating story that reveals the struggles of refugees, the confines of gender and the power of love. The only saving grace is a German woman named Anne, to whom she grows close - dangerously close - as Anne begins to suspect Fariba's true identity. In order to pay for forged documents, Fariba takes an illegal job in a sauerkraut factory, where she is harassed about not wanting to shower with the boys and about being Iranian. At first her survival seems assured, but the strain of upholding her male disguise in the cramped refugee quarters means a single mistake could blow her cover - at great personal peril. When her fellow inmate, a man named Siamak, commits suicide, Fariba assumes his identity and is sent to a refugee camp in a small German village. Fariba, persecuted in Iran because of a lesbian relationship, flees to Germany but her application for asylum is rejected. Title (Brazil): Not Availableĭirector Angelina Maccarone (EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE), winner 1998 Outfest Audience Award) returns with UNVEILED, a stunningly beautiful portrait of an Iranian refugee struggling between survival in small-town Germany and her love for a local woman. The stunning performances of Jasmin Tabatabai and Anneke Kim Sarnau are outstanding, and they show great chemistry in a beautiful and sad love story. The direction of unknown (at least for me) Angelina Maccarone is sensitive, disclosing the dramatic situation of Fariba never being corny. The story is totally realistic and credible, exposing the intolerance of Muslin nations (Iran, in this case) with lesbians. "Unveiled" is a powerful tale of survival, prejudice and love that recalls the also magnificent "Boys Don't Cry" because of the situation of the lead character. ![]() However, prejudice and her illegal condition jeopardize her exile in Germany. She becomes close to her colleague Anne (Anneke Kim Sarnau) and they fall in love for each other. Fariba finds an illegal work in a cabbage factory and she has many difficulties for not having bath with the other male workers. When her recent acquaintance Siamak (Navíd Akhavan), who is grieving the death of his brother, commits suicide, Fariba assumes his identity and status of political refugee and is sent to a refugee camp in a German village. ![]() However, her application is denied by the authorities and Fariba has to return to her home country. On the whole, pretty tame.The educated Fariba Tabrizi (Jasmin Tabatabai) flies from Teheran to Germany expecting to have asylum, since she is persecuted in Iran due to her lesbian relationship with her beloved Shirin. Despite the serial killer element to the plot, there are no murders depicted in the movie, nor corpses. One does hear the Muslim call to prayer a few times (though religion does not factor into the movie at all), but they avoid the cliché of showing a shot of a minaret while doing so. All the local color is nice, and there is also some Arab music on the soundtrack. There are, however, some nice street scenes of Morocco, a drive through the desert, and lots of interiors that certainly look as if they were shot on location in Morocco as well. When there is a big build-up for a scene of lovemaking, the camera cuts away before anything starts, and the next shot is of the next day. As I wrote above, this isn't exactly an erotic thriller. Stephanie finds Jeremy attractive and charming, though "with an edge." Jeremy is somewhat secretive, and says he's writing a novel. When she meets a man named Jeremy who matches the description, she offers to help try to determine if he is the killer by wearing a wire. He tells her that her friend may be a victim of a jet- setting serial killer. Moroccan police arrive, interested in Stephanie's friend, and she also meets a man from the US Embassy in Rabat, Morocco. ![]() The friend and her man Jeremy, who Stephanie does not get to meet, go off on a trip together. When Stephanie and her friend get separated in a market, they hire a young local boy named Moon to be Stephanie's guide and all-around helper. Stephanie goes to visit a friend in Morocco, who has met a man she hopes to marry. She also has a drug problem, and when she goes out to buy an "eight-ball" with a recent acquaintance in a bad part of town, her companion gets accidentally shot by Stephanie's gun. Stephanie is a rich woman (or a woman with a rich father). To look at the video box cover for this movie, a woman in sexy clothes leaning against a wall with an exotic background, one might think this is an erotic thriller.
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