In 1979, Iran’s historical monarchy was overthrown, and a new era began in the form of an Islamic state governed by Ayatollah Khomeini. But at what cost? Iranian documentary filmmaker Farahnaz Sharifi starts her diary film ‘My Stolen Planet‘ with this question.
My Stolen Planet is screening at Black Movie
Born just three weeks after the revolution, Farahnaz recalls how the new government dealt its first blow to women. “The first blow lands on the bodies of women,” Farahnaz says. The regime restricts their rights—their choice of dress, where they can go, and what music they can listen to or dance to. But all this exists only in the “outside planet,” a planet that resides on the streets. There is another planet—inside—where everyone has each other beyond the restrictions and inhumanity.
All Iranian women live this double life—each day, each minute, in their own country. Farahnaz tries to capture these everyday realities with her phone, creating a documentary, a video diary, or simply documenting the raw truth of Iran from the streets. Through this lens, she attempts to portray the history of Iran intertwined with the history of Iranian women in a continuum of study. She digs out old Super 8 home videos of families who emigrated to other countries to flee this oppressive environment. From these, we see their joyous, happy times together—whether at a wedding, a family gathering, or a vacation. Farahnaz captures all of this as an act of remembering history.
For Farahnaz, resistance is both personal and political. For her, images hold a power capable of rebelling against the regime’s policy of forgetting. She wants to see Iran in its truest form—from an insider’s perspective. Thus, these home videos act as a tool to remember the true values of women in society. In doing so, she resists the temptation of nostalgia. Instead, she creates a clear dichotomy between the “inside planet” and its “outside counterpart.” In this way, she weaves a personal story deeply embedded in the collective consciousness of the country.
‘My Stolen Planet’ deals with a very gloomy topic, yet the director never presents life as a bleak tale. They dance, laugh, and make fun of each other. For them, these acts become a form of resistance. Several scenes showcase dancing, which reminds me of the same motivations behind Payal Kapadia’s directorial debut, ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing.’ The dancing is so cathartic that it brings hope amidst hopelessness.
Despite its necessary discussion of contemporary Iran, the film stumbles with its overly expository narrative. Farahnaz seems somewhat underconfident in her storytelling, relying too much on voiceovers to explain everything rather than trusting the audience to draw their own conclusions. Additionally, the voiceovers feel repetitive, hindering the overall pace of the documentary.
‘My Stolen Planet’ is an important documentary that sheds light on the situation of women in contemporary Iran from an insider’s perspective. And even with its setbacks, it remains a significant study of the country’s collective history through a feminist lens.
