CAT&Docs has acquired international distribution rights to Iranian filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei’s documentary A Fox Under a Pink Moon. This work will have its world premiere at IDFA’s international competition.
The film is co-directed by the main character, Soraya Aflagi, whom she met when she was 16 years old. Soraya has already created astonishing drawings and sculptures that are as beautiful as they are dark. This strong-willed Afghan sculptor and illustrator has been trying for five years to find a way to escape Iran and return to his mother in Austria.
This subtly textured self-portrait interweaves chilling scenes from her escape with political news from Afghanistan and videos of her singing, dancing, or showing off her bruises. Soraya is married to a violent man and is determined to shape her future.
Oscoei directed the film entirely remotely, with Soraya filming all the footage over a five-year period using her own cell phone. The material is interspersed with her drawings and surreal animated shots.
For Soraya, creating art is more than just idle pastime. She pours all her worries, joys, and fears into her paintings and the sculptures she makes from soaked egg cartons and clay she finds on her way out.
Many of her paintings feature recurring characters that Soraya identifies with, such as her faithful fox companion, the pink moon that always watches over her, and the eternally laughing clown.
“Our story is about one of the millions of people displaced by the wars of the past decades. The whole world feels sorry for them from afar, seeing them as powerless to improve their lives and thus straining our resources. But each of them, in their own world, has a story to tell and is full of strength,” Oskuei said in a statement.
“We want one of them to tell their story themselves. On the surface the story is an ordinary immigrant story, but deep down we enter the world of an artist. One of them will record their own adventure in leaving the country.”
Oscoei is known for her tetralogy that focuses on the lives of incarcerated youth, including Always Late for Freedom (2007), The Last Days of Winter (2011), and Starless Dreams (2016), which captures the lives of teenage girls in correctional facilities.
Sunless Shadows (2019), which opened the IDFA and won Best Director, continued this exploration, offering an intimate portrait of women in a juvenile detention center imprisoned for the murders of male family members.
“A Fox Under a Pink Moon” was written by Oskouei and Amir Adibparvar and produced by Oskouei. Executive producers are Siavash Jamali and Tony Tabacnik, with InMart’s Chandra Jessee and Rebecca Lichtenfeld serving as executive producers.
This production was supported by the Inmart Foundation, Bata Film Fund, Catapult Film Fund, IMS, and Artunity.
