This Week at the Movies: Seven Days

On Saturday, Mohammad Rasoulof's "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" was honoured with two Lolas at the German Film Awards. Now a film for which Rasoulof wrote the screenplay, directed by Iranian exile Ali Samadi Ahadi, is being released in cinemas on Thursday: "Seven Days" is based on the life of Nobel Prize winner Narges Mohammadi and tells the story of an Iranian human rights activist who, during a week's leave of absence, embarks on a dangerous escape through the mountains towards Turkey to meet her family living in exile in Germany. She is faced with the existential decision of whether to follow her family into exile or return to prison to help other women there... Ali Samadi Ahadi, whose filmography includes the harrowing documentary "Lost Children" as well as sensitive children's films such as "Pettson and Findus - Findus Moves House", succeeds in creating a gripping, atmospherically dense mixture of escape thriller, road movie and family drama with "Seven Days". It shows the inner turmoil of a woman torn between emotion, reason and a sense of responsibility - without providing any clear-cut answers to complex questions. A moving and significant film.