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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Niloofar
| image          = Niloofar 2008.jpeg
| director       = Sabine El Gemayel
| producer       = Jean Bréhat <br />[[Rachid Bouchareb]]<br />[[Fereshteh Taerpoor]]
| writer         = Sabine El Gemayel
| starring       = [[Shahab Hosseini]]<br />[[Amir Aghaei]]<br />Mobina Aynehdar
| released       = {{Film date|2008|08|27|[[Montréal World Film Festival|Canada]]|df=y}}
| music          = Fardin Khalatbari
| editing        = [[Bahram Dehghani]]
| studio         = 3B Productions <br /> Khaneh
| distributor    = Tadrart Films
| runtime        = 82 minutes
| country        = Iran <br /> Lebanon <br /> France
| language       = Persian <br /> Arabic
| budget         = €450,000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291643/?ref_=ttco_co_tt |title=Box office |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref>
}}
'''''Niloofar''''' is an Iranian [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] written and directed by [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] filmmaker Sabine El Gemayel. It is an [[Co-production (media)|international co-production]] between the French company Pyramide Films and companies in Lebanon and Iran. The film was released in 2008 and screened at the [[American Film Institute|AFI Fest]] in Los Angeles that year.<ref name=":0" />
The story focuses on a young girl just entering puberty. This new phase in her life marks her entry into the circle of women, which brings with it new cultural obligations that leave little room for her own personal quest.
''Niloofar'' won the Best Feature Film and Best Actress award at the 2009 [[Noor Iranian Film Festival]] in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=NILOOFAR |url=http://inter.pyramidefilms.com/pyramide-international-catalogue-n/niloofar.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027204156/http://inter.pyramidefilms.com:80/pyramide-international-catalogue-n/niloofar.html |archive-date=27 October 2019 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=Pyramide Films |language=fr}}</ref>
== Synopsis ==
Niloofar, a twelve-year-old [[Iraq]]i girl, dreams of being able to read and write. Unfortunately, in her village only boys can go to school. Niloofar's mother, a midwife, pushes her to become her apprentice. During one of the deliveries, Niloofar meets an educated woman. In secret, she starts to teach Niloofar how to read and write.
In the meantime, Niloofar's father has bought a field of palms. The price: Niloofar, as soon as she is a woman. Niloofar is horrified by this and tries to postpone her periods. When her periods finally do arrive, she hides this from the community. But the truth cannot be hidden for long and one day her secret is exposed. Terrified Niloo must obey her father's word and marry a man who once had his own daughter [[Honor killing|put to death]] for loving a boy. This boy was Niloo's uncle, Aziz. Aziz, haunted by the memory of the young lover he lost years before, feels compelled to help Niloo avert a similar destiny. Aziz devises a plan to help Niloo escape and the two set off together. Niloo's family is furious when they discover she is missing and vow to bring her back to face retribution for dishonoring the family. They send her stepbrother out to track Niloofar down and bring her back.
== Cast ==
* [[Roya Nonahali]] as Salmah
* Mobina Aynehdar as Niloofar
* Nayereh Farahani as Noor
* Shahab Hosseini as Aziz
* Hengameh Ghaziani as Firoozeh
* Tooraj Faramarzian as Uncle Akbar
* Sadegh Safaie as Abdollah
* [[Fatemeh Motamed Aria]] as Banoo
* Alireza Ziaijan as Said
* Miald Shirmohamadi as Amir
* Saghar Slolaymani as Zeinab
* [[Amir Aghaei]] as Sheik Abbas
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Writer and director Sabine El Gemayel based the script's story on a girl she met in [[Lebanon]] who was facing the prospect of an arranged marriage. Gemayel commented, however, that the issues raised in the film are not specific to one culture, saying, "It’s a humanist film that’s critical of a specific tradition, not a culture ... I did not want to make a film that was [[Anti-Arabism|anti-Arab]].”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rohan |first=Brian |date=12 February 2009 |title=Thirst for learning defies forced marriage in film |language=en |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-berlin-forcedmarriage-idUSTRE51B33G20090212 |access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref>
=== Filming ===
''Niloofar'' was filmed in Iran in 2007 over a 53-day shoot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wildman |first=John |title=10 Burning Questions: NILOOFAR |url=https://www.filmfestivals.com/node/10_burning_questions_niloofar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220331200330/https://www.filmfestivals.com/node/10_burning_questions_niloofar |archive-date=31 March 2022 |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=FilmFestivals.com |language=en }}</ref>
== Critical reception ==
The film received critical acclaim.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campagna |first=Jeff |date=11 February 2010 |title=At the Freer, Niloofar: A Young Girl's Epic Story |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/at-the-freer-niloofar-a-young-girls-epic-story-113420871/ |access-date=21 March 2022 |website=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref> In a positive review of a screening at the [[American Film Institute|AFI Fest]], the [[Associated Press|AP]] said, "writer-director Sabine El Gemayel evinces a poetic eye for the colors and textures of domestic life" and the film "is direct and elliptical, contemporary and timeless".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |date=3 November 2008 |title=Niloofar |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/niloofar-125632/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320205709/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/niloofar-125632/ |archive-date=20 March 2022 |access-date=20 March 2022 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
Robert Koehler of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' was more critical, writing the film is "a wobbly variation on the familiar theme of tradition-bound girls growing up in the 21st century".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koehler |first=Robert |date=18 November 2008 |title=Niloofar |url=https://variety.com/2008/film/markets-festivals/niloofar-1200472145/ |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>
== Festivals ==
* [[Montréal World Film Festival]]<ref name=":1" />
* [[AFI Fest]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Berlin International Film Festival]]<ref name=":1" />
* [[Zlín International Film Festival for Children and Youth]]<ref name=":1" />
* Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival<ref name=":1" />
* [[Noor Iranian Film Festival]] - Winner - Best Feature and Best Actress for [[Roya Nonahali]]<ref name=":1" />
== References ==
<references />
== External links ==
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130901155134/http://www.tadrart.com/tessalit/niloofar/ Niloofar]'' at Tadrart Films. Archived from [http://www.tadrart.com/tessalit/niloofar/ the original] on 01-09-2013.
* ''[http://www.parstimes.com/film/niloofar.html Niloofar]'' at Pars Times
* {{IMDb title|1291643}}
[[Category:2008 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2008 films]]
[[Category:2000s feminist films]]
[[Category:2000s French films]]
[[Category:Fiction about arranged marriage]]
[[Category:French drama films]]
[[Category:Iranian drama films]]
[[Category:Fictional child brides and grooms]]
[[Category:Films about honor killing]]
[[Category:Films about puberty]]
[[Category:Films set in Iraq]]
[[Category:Films shot in Iran]]
[[Category:Lebanese drama films]]