Radiograph of a Family

"Mother married a photo of Father" says director Firouzeh Khosrovani in the opening of this personal documentary. She's not speaking metaphorically though. Her mother Tayi literally married a portrait of Hossein in Teheran; he was in Switzerland studying radiology and was unable to travel back to his homeland for the wedding. The event illustrates the abyss that still exists in their marriage: Hossein is a secular progressive and Tayi a devout, traditional Muslim. But this family history is also a sort of x-ray, laying bare the conflicts of Iranian society in the run-up to, and aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979.