The Red Suitcase
Directed by Cyrus Neshvad, 2022
Although the new Iranian film always challenges the orthodoxies, “The Red Suitcase” presented for the first time in 2022, is a welcome vehicle for international protest. Iran has been rocked by public protests that have confirmed that the long-quiet public has reached a point of no return in its opposition to the regime. The ubiquitous and brutal security services, along with the massive secret service, are now holding the citizens of the Islamic Republic to ransom. In this brutal, secretive theocracy, women have suffered immeasurably due to the ruthless tendencies of the morality police.
Their invasive neighborhood notification networks effectively stifle public health. Into this oppressive theater of moral repression comes a positive response to this Oscar-nominated short film (in contrast) that puts Iran in the best light. For those who are desperate, it is a reminder that the Ayatollahs are not beyond international public consideration, or indeed directed at global opportunities, in the world’s biggest stage, Hollywood.
Shortlisted for the Oscar, “The Red Suitcase” shows the power of the protest film to put injustice strongly on the global agenda, It is more visible in the blink of an eye than the last year’s traumatic street war against the authorities of Iran. Set in a Luxembourg airport, it tells the story of a 16-year-old Iranian girl from Tehran who takes off her headscarf in protest against medieval male tyranny. For film director Cyrus Neshvad, who was born in Iran but grew up in Luxembourg, his film: “exposes the cancerous virus in the beautiful body of my country of birth… Once we get rid of this virus, the body will be flourishing again,” he told AFP. The film includes vivid images of the Iranian regime’s repression, as well as footage of police officers beating back female protesters.
The protests in Iran were sparked by the 2022 death in custody of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for wearing a headscarf illegally approved by religious leaders. The scale and intensity of the street riots really threatened the Islamic clerics who took power in 1979. Red Suitcase continues the momentum of the revolution in Iran but was filmed a year before it began. Despite the participation of the moral force everywhere, the Iranian people feel that Mahsa must be avenged. The regime responded with repression with arrests and executions – including the covert intimidation of sports figures and film producers. Film studios are witnessing plainclothes police monitoring their performance, and the demoralization of the fragile acting industry.
The Oscar-nominated Iranian protest film is based on the injustice faced by the director’s family – those like the Bahais who are systematically persecuted in Iran. Koresi also points directly among his relatives to the neurosis and anger that has long been experienced by Iranian girls and women. Amini’s tragic death has once again brought this patriarchal injustice to the world. As Neshvad comments: “women in Iran are under the rule of a man…If a woman wants to do something, or go to visit something, the man (her father or husband) has to agree and write a paper and sign it… in my film taking off her veil…it was a moment of courage… to rebel from the path forced on him, but also to encourage those watching….It will be a message: ‘Follow me – like me, take your hijab off, do not accept this rule, and let’s be free, at least we have freedom of choice.”
The leading actress of “The Red Suitcase”, Nawelle Evad, 22, is French-Algerian, and she is debating the issue of women and Islamic headscarves – and the debate in the West surrounding them. “I was brought up Muslim and used to wear it,” he told AFP in Paris. “That’s what I find so beautiful in this film… the doubt that anyone, in any country, in any culture, faces… What do I choose? Do I listen to my family? Am I choosing myself?” There is also a clear word of criticism towards the west in the movie.
Neshvad’s French scriptwriting partner, Guillaume Levil, also suggested that the sexist airport ads in the film exploit women. The final image of the film, an advertisement featuring a blonde model is a symbol of both social diktats. The director comments “When we get closer to his face with the camera, we slowly see that he is not happy, and when we are closer, we see that (he) is even scared….And with this, I wanted to end the movie. So (we criticize) not only one side, but both sides.”
The Iranian regime systematically discriminates against women, engages in violence and sexual exploitation of girls; prisons, flogged women, and even killed people outside of court—’for crimes’ such as appearing in public without a head covering. Harassing women’s rights activists; forcibly separates women from men; disproportionately penalizes women in the justice system; denies women political and economic opportunities; and favors men over women in family law and inheritance. The Islamic head covering is violently enforced by the state. Since shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Iranian regime has authorized women and girls over the age of nine to wear the hijab (Islamic head-cover) in public. The government has brutally suppressed protests against the demand.
The Islamic Penal Code of Iran states: “Women, who appear in public places and on the streets without wearing the Islamic hijab, will be sentenced to ten days to two months in prison or a fine of fifty to five hundred thousand. [thousand] Rials,” (Section 638). The article also authorizes a sentence of “two months in prison or 74 lashes” “[anyone] who openly commits a harām (sin) act, in addition to the punishment given for that act.” Women who fail to wear headscarves and other coverings in public may be harassed by the “Morality Police” (MP), detained, fined, and/or flogged. Many Iranians have expressed opposition to the mandatory hijab, including the “White Wednesdays” campaign (started in 2017), where Iranians wear white clothes in street protests. Videos of these defiant acts of women called “The Girls of Revolution Street” have spread all over the world. In response, President Ebrahim Raisi greatly increased the use of the hijab.
The arrest and execution of Mahsa Amini appears to be particularly poignant given the Oscar nomination for The Red Suitcase. It is important to note the forensic pathology of these terrible events. On September 13, 2022, Moral Police arrested 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini on the street in Tehran while visiting the city with his family. They dragged her away from her family and told Amini’s brother that they had tied her to an “improper” hijab and were taking her to an “educational and orientation class.”
The police threw him into the van, according to eyewitnesses, and beat him until he died in the car on the way at the police station. It is suggested that the police created a crime scene to make it appear that he was depressed. The body that was found was so badly injured that his coffin had to be closed. Thousands of Iranians across the country took to the streets in protest against the regime after Amini’s death. Since this brutal act, public protests have been chanting “Women, life, freedom,” “Death to Khamenei,” “Death to the dictator.”
Women are increasingly going outside without the hijab, some going public and even burning their hijabs. The regime immediately arrested a female journalist who attracted the attention of Amini (Niloufar Hamedi). He spent time in solitary confinement at the notoriously brutal Evin prison, and lives in daily danger of government action. There is a glimmer of hope that The Red Suitcase’s prominence at major film events, including the Oscars buzz, might compel religious leaders to address the worst acts of police brutality. Recently there have been a number of pardons for street protesters.
However, it would be foolish to hope that this troubled regime can really change. As Red Suitcase shows, the only conceivable option for the lucky few, is to run away. Like the girl in this Oscar-nominated film, the filmmakers had to flee Iran to express themselves authentically. If there is to be a new and indigenous Iranian protest film, it will probably be supported by foreigners rather than indigenous film crews. Yet the unprecedented success of The Red Suitcase, one of the few Iranian movies shortlisted for an Oscar in recent memory, demonstrates the power of cinematography as a form of protest against a corrupt, brutal democracy.
Further Studies in E-International Relations
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