“Freedom is a Human Right” says the trailer for the 2011 film CIRCUMSTANCE.  A movie with an LGBTQ theme yet it is much more.  When basic rights are taken away from people, and a power structure controls how you should act and how you should think, then what is one’s quality of life?  The movie looks at this phenomenon through the eyes of one family.

Atafeh and her friend Shireen are young women living in the Tehran, Iran.  While in public, the two follow the morality laws of the nation while also wearing the required hijab.  But privately at home, Atafeh and her family are much more liberal.  They play music, drink alcohol, and do things not unfamiliar in Western homes.  But when Atafeh’s brother Mahran arrives home from a drug rehabilitation clinic, Atafeh and her family’s daily life changes vastly.

The movie is written and directed by New York City filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz with an internation cast of Persian speaking actors and actresses.  Appearing at Sundance, the movie received impressive reviews by critics.  You co-hosts continuing their Pride Month themed films discuss the movie and give their thoughts.