I am greatly impressed by a film which conveys such a strong message on so many levels: it portrays the problems faced by Iranians fleeing from the injustices and denial of human rights that they experience in their own country and the added difficulties they face when trying to make their way in the UK especially against a background of enforced illegal working and hostility; it demonstrates how much more we as a society could do to try to understand why asylum seekers come to the UK, from what they are fleeing, to understand that they are human beings just like us with the same aspirations and wants; it manifests the differences in cultural norms between societies and examines sensitively this in particular through Nasrine's and her brother's awakening sexuality and, in the case of the former, how easily that can be blighted by previous rape and brutality; it gives a wonderful insight into part of the culture and everyday experience of many people in the North East ââ¬" their warmth and welcome but also their prejudice and parochialism; above all it shows the dangers of just growing up as teenagers in an unfamiliar culture far from home and the comfort zone of one's own familiar norms and family. We are all much more thoughtful and potentially better people for the insights this film gives ââ¬" it is for each of us to learn from or ignore the messages, so powerful if we can experience the former.
Keith Best Chief Executive Freedom from Torture : Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture
