Roxana

 

This live action film uses a new animation style to illustrate how moral lines can be blurred by necessity. As one physical need becomes stronger than another, raw survival finally takes precedence over moral considerations.

 

A young female reporter returns to Iran to care for her ailing mother, but soon her desire for social justice draws her into reporting on a forbidden subject – an expose of the plight of the women and girls who prostitute themselves in sham ‘temporary marriages.’ Arrested, imprisoned, and beaten by officials who demand that she confess to her ‘sins’ (of trying to tell the truth), Roxana finally realizes that she must seduce her interrogator – she must use sex and the promise of love to survive, just as the prostitutes do.

 

Her interrogator, Amir, falls in love with her, and, risking his own life and freedom, manages to get her released from prison to live under his watchful supervision. It’s the opportunity she needs. After her mother’s funeral, Roxana sneaks away from Amir and begins a dangerous escape attempt through the mountains into Turkey. Once there, she asks for political asylum from the American Consulate.

 

Back in Tehran, Amir is arrested, tortured, and sentenced to death for his unwitting part in her escape. In New York City, Roxana discovers that she isn’t truly free even here – she is being followed by Iranian agents.

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