Docs & Talks: Torture and Trauma / Born in Evin (København)

We open the festival with the Iranian-German director Maryam Zaree’s very personal story about growing up as a child of parents who were political prisoners in Iran.

As an adult, Maryam finds out that she was born in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Her mother fled to Germany with her, when she was little, and has never since wanted to talk about the past.

As Maryam begins to experience panic attacks, she tries to make her mother break the silence and answer the many questions that haunts her.

This deeply moving documentary was apllauded with standing ovation after the Berlin premiere last year where it was given the Compass-Perspektive-Award for Best German Film.

Meet the director

After the film we will talk about some of the mechanisms and patterns associated with collective violence and its aftermath together with the director Maryam Zaree, psychologist at Doctors Without Borders Mozhdeh Ghasemiyani and Senior Researchers at DIIS Robin May Schott and Lars Erslev Andersen.

They will discuss how trauma is passed on to the next generation, and what happens when you break the silence, both on an individual level, in the family, and on a larger scale in society, in the form of truth commissions.

Practical information

The debate is in English and will last around 50 minutes. Tickets 95/65 kr.

After the event the Austrian Embassy and DIIS host the opening reception of the festival in the Asta Bar.

Buy ticket here

The event is presented in partnership with the Austrian Embassy and the Goethe-Institut Dänemark.

About the film

Born in Evin. Dir. Maryam Zaree, 2019 / Engl. text / 95 min. / 150 min. incl. debate