Directed by: Ali Asghari 15 minutes | Drama short film Cast: Mayra Pitampersingh, Alan Yadijarian, Winnie Augustus, Sanne den Besten, Mahnaz Rahvareh, Savak Karadeniz.
After watching the short film “About Me,” the viewer feels an uncomfortable feeling. The theme is beautiful and contemporary. The clash between Dutch culture and that of Fatima and her father is depicted in an interesting way.
“About Me” revolves around the beautiful Fatima (Maryam Pitampersingh), who goes with her father (Alan Yadejarian) to a gynecologist to determine if she is still a virgin. This investigation became necessary because 17-year-old Fatima was getting married to a relative, and the family greatly valued proof of virginity.
The film is directed by Ali Asghari (1982), an Iranian film director with several productions to his name. The focus of his work is the weakness of people, in this case Fatima, who gets into trouble. This may also apply to her father, who would view potential failure to pass a virginity test as a humiliation. Here we are not only witnessing a conflict between cultures, but we are also witnessing an internal conflict of the doctor who must find a way between two ethical positions. The doctor must find a solution not only for himself, but also for Fatima and her father.
The film is beautifully quiet, not least because of the acting of Maryam Pitambarzingh, who is well able to maintain the building tension. As viewers, we gradually discover the reason for her standoffish attitude and soon sense where this is headed. There is not much talking and filming is done regularly with the camera over the shoulder. On the one hand, this increases the tension, but on the other hand, the image is also shaky when there is no action, and is therefore somewhat annoying. The rare dialogues are somewhat artificial and especially very slow. Everything was meticulously expressed between very elegant people. This is a bit unfortunate because it takes the tension out of the movie and it takes a while before it comes back, and then the end is near again.
“About Me” is a nice short film that still leaves room for improvement. The production was shortlisted in the United States and thus qualified for an Academy Award in the live-action short category. It is not known at the time of writing whether the film will also be shortlisted and subsequently nominated.
Ton Eijelstra
Rating: 3
