The Apple

Samira Makhmalbaf’s directorial debut (at age seventeen) blends a fictionalized plot over a shocking real-life tale of two sisters whose parents had locked them in their home for their entire lives, to “protect” them like flowers. Convincing the entire family to “play” themselves, Makhmalbaf showcases the girls’ first steps toward the outside world, all while subtly undermining every audience preconception of not only the parents’ ethical motives, but the filmmakers’. Comic and richly poetic at moments, the film is also deeply questioning about cinema’s role in documenting (or manipulating) reality. “Experimental docudrama, open-ended essay, The Apple is a remarkable movie” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice). As a work made by a young female director investigating female emancipation, it also shows, as critic Shahala Mossavar-Rahmani underlines, “the quiet but unshakable determination of this feminine side of Iran, which is constantly fighting against all forms of political, cultural, and religious authoritarianism.”