In remote Idaho, Colie and Hollyn embark on a long summer season working as range riders herding cattle. We follow them closely through the immensity of the landscapes and intimate moments of friendship. Emelie Mahdavian masterfully revisits the genre of the western and invites us to rethink the challenge of nomadism from the perspective of two young women.
This experimental film explores censorship of Iranian women’s dance performance and what constitutes a woman’s ”body” in the digital age. Given that women "dancing" in public is illegal in Iran today — and even animated movies are censored — the filmmaker sets out to play with the edge of what constitutes a body, a dance, or an Iranian woman.
In Emelie Mahdavian's After the Curtain, four female dancers battle shifting cultural norms and face increasing disfavor in the Post-Soviet, predominantly Muslim nation of Tajikistan. The women weigh their love of art against economic hardship, loneliness, and social reproach in this intimate portrait, which also celebrates the rich dance and music culture of a Central Asian country largely unknown in the West.
