When
Where
Forbidden Womanhood - Maryam Zahirimehr - Iran, 2022, 96 min. In Persian with English Subtitles (Filmmaker in Attendance)
Mahi a 12-yr girl feels strange emotional and physical changes as she enters puberty and gets involved in an innocent love triangle. Her mom's deliberate the wrong answer to her question: "how a woman gets pregnant?" Devastates her childhood forever. Mahi continues suffering from strange pains. Her parents continue to ignore her physical and emotional changes. Based on her mom's wrong explanation she believes that she is pregnant and naively confides in her girlfriend. Her friend, Sara spreads the secret in the village and the outraged villagers start assaulting Mahi for the dishonor she brought to the village and her
family. They accuse her of having sexual relationships with two boys. An autistic boy who is utterly abused by the villagers and another lover who came from the city and seems to have assaulted Mahi sexually. Mahi finds herself under the threat of violence, punishment, isolation, ignorance, and abuse. The only compassion she receives comes from the innocent autistic boy.