Frauen ohne Männer

Shahrnush Parsipur's storytelling is overwhelming. There is so much fearlessness in the face of the grandeur, violence, absurdity, and malice of life, along with a terrible clarity and beauty. Years before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, five women from Tehran, each with different backgrounds, flee their unhappy lives to the countryside. They find themselves in a house purchased by a wealthy woman after separating from her husband. It becomes a refuge. A precarious coexistence begins. Stories need to be told, wounds to be healed, desires to be addressed. After some time and many upheavals, the women disperse again: life (and death) goes on. When Parsipur published her novel in 1990 in Tehran, it was immediately banned. In 2009, the film "Women Without Men," directed by Shirin Neshat based on the book, won an award at the Venice Film Festival.