Ayhan Shaygan

During the uprising to overthrow the Shah's regime in Iran, protestors set fire to movie theatres to protest Western culture. Forty years later, four people decide to re-create the past by burning down a theatre.

This time the action is restricted to a kindergarten, a world seemingly far removed from real life in Iran. Pre-school is the first and last time boys and girls can learn together freely before entering the strictly segregated education system. Much like the dog in Toodehroosta’s well received first feature Paat (2013), six-year-old Roham plays the often silent witness to the actions unfurling around him. As his curiosity grows, the complicated real lives of the other pupils start to unravel.