The Female Voice of Iran • Full documentary (2020)

Independent Feature documentary about female singers inside Iran and their deep wish: "I want my voice to be heard". Watch the full film with different subtitle languages available (access via the ☸ player settings)

Dealing with cultural censorship in Iran, women singers started using digital media more. Invited by Negar, a magical entity, female singers from all over this vast country come out of isolation, gather in a place in the very middle of Iran to make their dream come true. Nobody has tried this before, so Negar seeks the help of two travellers to connect them all to eachother. Along the way they meet surprisingly strong female personalities of diverse cultural backgrounds and come closer to understanding the orient…

00:00 Intro
04:25 Persian Gulf, Bushehr with Baran Mozafari (Folk singer)
14:34 Bustrip Ardabil to Gonbad-e-Kavus, Turkeman region with Samin Ghorbani (Azari folk singer)
17:24 Gonbad-e- Kavus with Jamileh Amaniyan (Turkeman folk singer)
24:17 Tehran with Haleh Seyfizadeh (Classical Iranian singer)
28:28 Abadan, South of Iran with Mina Deris (Arabic folk singer)
34:53 Tehran with Maliheh Moradi (Classical Iranian singer)
36:57 Kermanschah, West Iran with Sahar Zibaei (Kurdish Folk singer)
43:20 Shiraz with Massomeh Gorginpour (Qashqai clan chief)
48:10 Mina and Maliheh perform a duet in Arabic and Farsi
52:28 Esfahan with Maedeh Tabatabaei (Classical Iranian singer)
58:07 Mahabad (Kurdish region) with Shadi Behyar (Pop Singer)
01:01:05 Tehran/Esfahan with Mahya Hamedi (Jazz singer)
01:04:10 Caspian sea with Atefeh Moghimi (Mazandarani folk singer)
01:05:35 Zahedan, East Iran, Balochistan
01:07:15 Negar's Garden - All meet near Esfahan
01:12:45 End Credits with Memories

A film by Andreas Rochholl, Yalda Yazdani and Sebastian Leitner
Produced by Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin • in association with SLFILM Media/KADMOS Produktion

Copyright ©2020 Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin

Credits:
Director: Andreas Rochholl
Camera: Sebastian Leitner, Christoph Wieland, Andreas Rochholl
Associate producers: Yalda Yazdani, Sebastian Leitner
Research & Casting: Yalda Yazdani
Film Editor: Sebastian Leitner
Sound recordist: Lorenz Brehm, Daniel Weingarten
Sound Mix: Alexander Semrow, Volker Wendisch
Executive Producer: Mona Isabelle

Subtitles:
Ariane de Melo ∙ Portuguese (BR), Margaux Baleriaux ∙ French, Mariangela Diella ∙ Italian,
Nassia Paparnaki ∙ Greek, Layla Ferrández Melero ∙ Spanish, Juli Xiang ∙ Chinese,
Pinar Tatlıkazan ∙Turkish.

Visit for more details, press-kit (EPK) and contact

#femalevoice #iranianmusic #fulldocumentary

[CrossGenerationMedia]

Thank you all for your feedback! We received some comments about the role of "Negar", the little camel in our film. Of course the camel is not a symbol of Iran, it is, when you watch the film till here: 1:13:22 - a part of a personal story, like all the other individual stories in this film too. Every artist in this film is just an individual story, we as filmmakers tell these stories and we are aware that there are thousands of other untold stories - worth to listen too. This is our art as storytellers. This film is a film, 100 % independently produced, a product of creativity, a result of 5 years travelling and work of 3 filmmakers and the artists they met during that time.

[JalajaBonheim]

What a beautiful and inspiring documentary! I am blown away by the courage and beauty of my Iranian sisters. May you sing freely, may your voices be heard far and wide.

[austinmaro_music]

Awesome! Very touching. Yalda so nice listening to your presentation today at the University of Ghana.

[spiritof]

My sisters, when our creator made you, he gave the whole of humanity a treasure.

Thankyou so much for this film.
Warm greetings and utmost respect from Scotland.

[zalizali]

بسیار زیبا بود و من لذب بردم یکی از افتخارات ایران بانوان ایران هستن

[farnooshnajaf]

دیروز اتفاقی این فیلم مستند را دیدم و تا امروز هنوز در حال و هوای این فیلم هستم.خدای من وقتی خانم ملیحه مرادی و خانم مینا دریس با هم آواز خواندند من از گریه داشتم میمردم، امشب باز هم دوباره این تکه از فیلم را دیدم و اشک هایم هنوز جاری هستند.چقدر زیبا و با ابهت و با شکوهند زنان ایران زمین ما.واقعا سپاسگزارم از بابت تهیه این فیلم.البته باید اضافه کنم که من کسی هستم تا به حال حتی دو ساعت آواز سنتی گوش نداده و اتفاقی این فیلم را دیده و از روز بعد شروع کرده به دانلود آواز های سنتی .

[RanbirSingh-dhux]

Hello, I am a Singh from PanjAb, India, I happened to wander through Iran in 1978-79. This just brought so many fond memories. I nearly lost my self there, but just at about the end, I was thrown out of Iran by Shah 'just before Khomeini's arrival' . I think i found my roots in Farsi. Thank You for this beautiful rendering. PEACE !

[mandanabg]

You did a great job producing this fully emotional documentary, kudos!! Seen it twice already and shared it with many Iranian and non-Iranian friends.
Iran is full of wonders waiting to be discovered.
And many thanks for so generously making it available for everyone to watch. BRAVO!

[nedamehrjoo]

My wonderful Spanish friend shared this beautiful documentary with me! 🌹

[anam_cara_]

Wow. Just stunning. These women possess such grace, strength and beauty. I am in awe of them. Thank you for sharing this 🙏

[janelleschmidt]

Sending love to Iran, how admirable is the strength and courage of the women there <3

[firodjavanshir]

Bravo, after 40 years of living in France, you brought me so much joy and pride, I always thought that the future of Iran is built by it's women, full of grace, skills and specially "Courage".

[sallywildasinn]

Very powerful, thank you for making this happen. PLEASE come to Los Angeles to perform your beautiful music! I was fortunate to have been able to travel to Iran (in 1998) and meet so many generous, hospitable and beautiful people there. The lady in the pink dress at the end of the video reminds me of the experience we had in the part of Iran where she is from....our tour guide heard wedding music being played somewhere in the distance and he had the driver find it. The wedding party invited us (I was one of two Americans with a Britsh Tour group) into their garden for us to enjoy the festivities with them. It was a highlight of my entire trip. I hope to return one day to see how Iran has changed. Thank you again!!!! Greetings from Seal Beach, California, USA

Danke für diesen wunderbaren sensiblen Film... was ich am meisten genossen habe waren diese unterschiedlichen Musiktraditionen aus der Sicht der Frauen zu sehen und vor allem zu hören... man spürt die Kraft die Sensibilität und die Ehrlichkeit... wunderbar! merci cheili mamnun

[kazima]

Salaam. Thanks very much your excellent work. Thanks to giving voice to these artists. Of course, thanks to upload the movie. God willing you could appreciate the benefits of this sensitive, delicate work.

[aryanaskary]

Thanks a lot. It is really touching. One day the whole world will be able to hear these wonderful voices of Iranian females. With best wishes from Minsk, Belarus. درود بر شما.زنده بادا. از مینسک، بلاروس

[craveright]

با تشکر فراوان برای تولید و اشتراک این فیلم از شما عزیزان. هیج جای شکی وجود نداره که شیرزنان ایران زمین همیشه سربلند بودن. آرزو دارم روز به روز شاهد سر افرازی و پیروزمندی بیشتر این عزیزان باشیم. باشه که ستاره های تک تک این عزیزان در سظح جهانی انطور که شایسته شون هست بدرخشه. بهتون افتخار می کنیم. همجنان سرافراز و سربلند با گامهای مطمئن خودتون دنیا رو به عچب بیارین ای عزیزان.

[dr.florence]

Thank you for this beautiful film, and for making it publicly available! I am half-Iranian, half-German, and am amazed at the cultural diversity and richness. Thank you!

[sandramarques]

This is a very beautiful documentary. Thank you for making it and sharing it.

[ajj]

This is one of the best documentary film ever, THANK you for that All voices are super excellent and I can see a wonderful future for them.