Set in 1979, at the height of the Iran Hostage Crisis, writer-director Jasmin Mozaffari’s Motherland follows a young Iranian immigrant (played by Behtash Fazlali) who calls into question his future prospects in America after he embarks on a trip to meet his fiancé’s parents. But that’s just a small aspect of the greater story at hand. Bobak struggles being a foreigner in a post-Vietnam America, and things spiral into heartbreaking situations of xenophobia, isolation, and desperation.
Jasmin Mozaffari is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian writer/director, and her eye for detail and framing are exceptional. There’s so much depth, competence and composition to the short, this seems like it was plucked from the most iconic ’70s era films. Just a glimpse into a much larger narrative, Motherland can stand toe-to-toe with the works of Lumet, Friedkin, and others.
The story is inspired by Jasmin’s father who married an Albertan during this tumultuous period in American and Iranian history. It won three OSCAR-qualifying awards including Best Canadian Short Film at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Best Drama at Aspen Shortsfest, and Best Live Action Short Drama and Best Performance in a Live Action Short at the Canadian Screen Awards.
Enjoy the latest episode of The GoSeeTalk Podcast Experience, and keep an eye out for Jasmin. She is really going places.
