Shabnam Dadkhah

A transsexual named Amen is optimistically planning to do gender reassignment surgery but ends up being sent to prison. Being a transsexual was hard enough in Iran for Amen, let alone the misfortune of being replaced as a murderer.

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.