Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi has premiered her debut animation “The Siren” at the Berlinale’s Panorama section to challenge the traditional narrative of the Iran-Iraq War, which she believes has been glorified by governments in Iran.
The film is set against the backdrop of the war, which lasted eight years and claimed up to 2 million lives. The story follows 14-year-old Omid, who enjoys playing football and watching cockfights before his hometown of Abadan is destroyed by Iraqi forces.
Farsi, who lives in Paris and has been banned from her homeland since 2009 for defying government restrictions, aims to offer a different perspective from the government’s glorified portrayals of the war.
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