Films involving Blind

Blind: Minor Films no photo.

Title	Apple, The (1998)
Alternative/Original Title
Disability	Blind
Country	Iran
Length	86
Genre	Drama
Rating	4
Director	Samira Makmalbaf
Cast	Masume Naderi Zahra Naderi Gorbanali Naderi
Notes	In Tehran 12 year old twin girls are kept prisoners in their home (since birth) by their father. They are allowed no contact with the outside world. Their mother is blind, and virtually a prisoner herself. Amazingly this is a true story and the father and the girls are played by themselves. The director was only 17 at the time. Neighbours alert social services and the girls are taken away. They have their hair cut and are washed thoroughly (at home this has been neglected). But then they are returned to their parents and locked up again. The father explains that their mother being blind cannot protect the girls from the attention of boys. And such attention would bring on him dishonour. Following another visit from the social worker the girls are released and enjoy some freedom and meeting other girls even though they have difficulty speaking. Meanwhile the father is locked in his own house and given a hacksaw. The film is unusual and charming but I felt we did not learn enough (either through empathy with the characters or dialogue) about how this bizarre situation arose. The blind mother is a minor role and we never see her face beneath her veil.

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