Ava (15)
Directed by Sadaf Foloughi

THE constraints and pressures on women to conform in a strict patriarchal society are laid bare in this poignant Iranian coming-of-age tale.

It follows the misfortunes of a young girl who is banished from all social institutions simply because she wants to be different.

Yet on the face of it Ava (Mahour Jabbari) appears like any other teenager. Bright, determined and highly studious, she lives with her well-off parents in Tehran and is preoccupied with her friends, music, social status and academic performance.

But when she takes on a bet with her friends to win a date with her violin partner Nima (Houman Hoursan), she becomes distracted and it puts her on a collision course with her uber-controlling mother (Bahar Noohian), a successful doctor,  and her rottweiller-like headmistress (Leili Rashidi).

Sadaf Foloughi’s powerful directorial debut feature beautifully captures the angst of adolescence while exploring teenage pregnancy and abortion as well as the dynamics between mothers and daughters within a repressive society. 

It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, these issues are clearly universal.

Ava and her friends discuss how even married women can’t get an abortion, let alone teenage girls and, as Ava’s best friend Melody (Shayesteh Sajadi) laments, “it’s so fucked up that because you’re pregnant you have to get married. Your life is over!”

Matters are compounded by the fact that Ava’s mother and father are not on the same parenting page. Her mum disapproves of her pursuing a career in music, which she sees as pointless, while her dad, unusually, is more liberal and supportive of his daughter’s artistic passions and endeavours.

When Ava’s mother frogmarches her to a gynaecologist for an internal examination after discovering Ava’s relationship with Nima, Ava sees that as crossing a line from which they can never return. It puts her on a rebellious path which adversely affects her reputation and prospects.

With a compelling and magnetic performance by Jabbari, this female-driven drama is an insightful and intimate study of what women are confronting in Iranian society and its repressive effects on the younger generation.

Available on digital.