“Drawing comparisons with Chantal Akerman and Robert Bresson for its minimal dialogue, non-professional cast, and austere approach, Marva Nabili’s feature debut is a restrained yet incisive depiction of the constancy of women’s repression in Iran while on the cusp of social upheaval. Through a series of long, static shots, The Sealed Soil observes the tedious, repetitive routine of Rooy-Bekheir, a young woman living with her parents and siblings in a poor rural village prior to the revolution. Amid the village’s state-ordered relocation for agricultural reform and marriage proposals from unseen suitors, she stages a quiet rebellion for independence against the suffocating nature of her subjugation.
Originally shot on 16mm and smuggled out of Iran for editing, The Sealed Soil is the earliest surviving film by an Iranian woman director, made right before the 1979 Revolution. Newly restored in 4K, the film is a timely rediscovery that continues to resonate with the ongoing state of gender politics.” -Vicky Wong, TIFF Cinematheque
Digitally restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the Golden Globe Foundation, Century Arts Foundation, Farhang Foundation and Mark Amin. Restored from the 16mm original A/B negatives, color reversal internegative, magnetic track and optical track negative. Laboratory services by illuminate Hollywood, Corpus Fluxus, Endpoint Audio Labs, Audio Mechanics, Simon Daniel Sound. Special thanks to Thomas Fucci, Marva Nabili and Garineh Nazarian.
