At Five in the Afternoon

Colour, 35 mm
Iran, 2003, 105 min
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

After the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, girls are once again allowed to go to school. But Noqreh’s conservative father maintains his belief that girls should not be educated, although he concedes enough to allow her to attend Koran school. Each morning she pretends to honour his wishes, but after he drops her off she changes her slippers for high-heeled shoes and heads for the newly-opened secular school. There, girls learn self-respect along with everything else. In a class on politics, Noqreh begins to voice her dream of becoming president of her country, taking former Pakistani president Benazir Bhutto as her inspiration...The title of the film was inspired by a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca.

About the director

Samira Makhmalbaf (b. 1980, Tehran) became involved in cinema at the age of seven when she appeared in The Cyclist (1988), directed by her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Ten years later she worked as an assistant director on his film Silence (1998). She made two videos before directing her first feature, The Apple, in 1997. Her subsequent features, Blackboards (2000) and At Five in the Afternoon (2003) received Jury Prizes at Cannes. She also contributed to the omnibus work 11’09’01 (2002).