Permission

Merging themes from Jafar Panahi's Offside (2006) and Asghar Faradi's A Separation (2011), Soheil Beiraghi's sophomore feature draws on the case of footballer Niloufar Ardalan to expose the patriarchal bias of Iranian justice. Prevented from flying to Malaysia with the national women's Futsal team, star player Afrooz (Baran Kosari) discovers that her estranged husband Yaser (Amir Jadidi) has barred her from travelling abroad. As the host of a morally conservative TV show, Yaser clearly feels threatened by his wife's emancipated success. But he is also suspicious of her relationship with roommate Masi and the motives of her lawyer, Pantea, a civil rights advocate with a nose for publicity. Notwithstanding a couple of breathless sporting montages, the focus is firmly on the legal intricacies and the lengthy one-take hearing in front of an unseen judge is as riveting as it is disconcerting. Cannily recognising that neither spouse is entirely blameless, this is vigorously played and bound to spark animated post-screening debate.