Ein Augenblick Freiheit (2008)

Genres - Drama, Culture & Society  |   Run Time - 110 min.  |   Countries - Austria, France, Turkey  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

Six Iranians discover leaving their country behind is only the first step on the road to freedom in this drama, the first feature film from writer and director Arash T. Riahi. Hussan (Payam Madjlessi) is a politician and activist who has been forced to flee Iran with his wife Lale (Behi Djanati Atai) and their son (Kian Khalili) when his actions result in intense persecution by the authorities, leading him to seek political asylum in Turkey. When Hussan and Lale arrive in Ankara, they meet fellow exiles Merdad (Pourya Mahyari) and Ali (Navid Akhavan), friends in their early twenties who are en route to Austria after smuggling a pair of youngsters ((Elika Bozorgi and Sina Saba) out of Iran so they can be reunited with their expatriate parents. The community of Iranian exiles in Turkey is a small a close-knit one, as Turkish authorities and rogue Iranian cops are constantly on the lookout for those who have dared to flee their native land, and the new arrivals learn they must be careful about who they trust. In time, they fall in with two other exiles -- Abbas (Said Oveissi), a middle-aged activist who has become cynical about the cause, and his younger and more idealistic pal Manu (Fares Fares). Ein Augenblick, Freiheit (aka For A Moment, Freedom) was honored as Best Debut Feature at both the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival and the 2008 Zurich Film Festival.