Moharram - Waiting for the Dawn

Where’s the best party on the axis of evil? Can you find true love in a nation of “evil-doers”?

Such questions are no more inappropriate than the biased image of today’s Iran both the Western media and politicians convey. Fuelled by the disquieting antics of a reactionary leader and the ever same images and news items of Muslim fanaticism, nuclear threats and rogue states, this entire nation is progressively being reduced to a nation of potential terrorists and aggressors.

In the midst of a growing culture of fear, “Moharram – Waiting for the Dawn” offers an entirely different perspective and unbiased look behind a façade that usually remains impenetrable. The spotlight is not cast on the political or religious leaders, but on the youth of Tehran, which makes up a staggering proportion of the population (70% of Tehran’s 14 million inhabitants are under 30 years old).

Revolving around the religious event of Moharram, the annual month of mourning, in commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hossein who died some 1400 years ago, the film explores their personal views on the current living conditions in Iran and the difficult changes they are undergoing, during which it discovers striking parallels to Western society. The realisation that the protagonists, like young people everywhere, are struggling hard to determine their future identity in the face of a rapidly changing global culture, grants them a surprising and immense potential for identification and empathy for any western audience.