Shot without the permission of Iran's theocratic government, Saman Salour's movie gives us a raw picture of Teheran's underbelly. Two outcasts are surviving illegally in the capital by installing secretly at night parabolic TV antennas for the 'happy few', the higher middle class, which can hide the existence of those antennas.
This movie is a subversive document. It reveals that the Iranian society is far from perfect. It shows also people's thirst for freedom, for uncensored visual material (news, shows, and perhaps more 'decadent' TV channels). It is a human characteristic that anything that is forbidden, is or becomes very desirable indeed. All media in Iran are controlled by the powerful, who know all too well that free news gathering could undermine their religious and political power base.
Has Saman Salour a chance to distribute freely and openly this movie in his home country? Probably not under the current regime. This movie proves that cinema continues to have a potentially important cultural, social and political impact. Highly recommended.
