it’s winter

The issue of child marriage has often been portrayed in documentary films from Iran and the region through a direct, classical approach, focusing primarily on its social and emotional consequences. In It’s Winter, with the support of my team, I wanted to bring a new perspective to this painful reality and explore it as part of a broader transformation within my community. Through a carefully constructed cinematic language and a distinctive visual style, we sought to reflect this change from within. The film begins by immersing the audience in Sogol’s inner world, her dreams, her tenderness, and the hopeful emotions of childhood. Her close bond to Delaram and also with a figure seemingly like her father evokes warmth and safety. But as the story unfolds and the meaning of this relationship shifts, from father to husband, those same emotions take on a chilling new significance. This transformation and its inherent contradiction invite the viewer to experience, rather than simply observe, the deep human cost of child marriage. Over the years, a lack of education and access to basic necessities, coupled with the weight of long-standing religious traditions, has sustained harmful customs. Because this culture is part of my own identity, I feel a duty to shed light on it. Through cinema, I hope to contribute, even in a small way, to awareness and change. Our images reflect the truth of these people’s lives, their landscape, their culture, and the complex emotions that govern their daily existence. Having been born and raised in this region, my team and I deeply understand the social fabric that shapes these lives. We have previously made several short documentaries with the very people among whom I grew up, exploring different human and cultural dimensions of their existence. My personal connection to the subjects, and my sense of moral responsibility toward my own community, including Sogol, Delaram, and Hassan, has made this project both an artistic challenge and a personal mission. I sincerely hope that it will succeed in conveying its message to world cinema and leave a meaningful impact on audiences in my own country and community.