THE SEALED SOIL

Saturday, February 8, 5:00 p.m. | The earliest surviving Iranian film directed by a woman, Marva Nabili’s assured debut, offers a sharp, intimate portrayal of a woman’s rebellion against social repression and institutionalized misogyny. THE SEALED SOIL follows Roo-Bekheir, a young woman living in a poor village in pre-revolutionary Iran. As the daily routine of her family and the entire village is disrupted by a state-ordered relocation, Roo-Bekheir refuses to agree to a forced marriage, a rejection her family interprets as demonic possession. THE SEALED SOIL’s strength is in its restraint, with Nabili delivering a sharply observant, sophisticatedly sensual portrait of female rebellion. An Arbelos/Venera Films co-release. Digitally restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the Golden Globe Foundation, Century Arts Foundation, Farhang Foundation and Mark Amin. Restored from the 16mm original A/B negatives, color reversal internegative, magnetic track and optical track negative. Laboratory services by Illuminate Hollywood, Corpus Fluxus, Endpoint Audio Labs, Audio Mechanics, Simon Daniel Sound. Special thanks to Thomas Fucci, Marva Nabili and Garineh Nazarian.

Awards & Nominations

Official Selection - New York Film Festival (Revivals)
Official Selection - BFI London Film Festival (Treasures)

Festival of Films from Iran: For the 36th year of our Festival of Films from Iran, we’re taking the opportunity to look back at some of the highlights of Iranian cinema we’ve presented at the Film Center—during the festival and year round— in the last 36 years. Read more

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu