In an act of resistance, Elahe forgoes a hijab at a family party

In her critically acclaimed short documentary A Move, the London-based director Elahe Esmaili returns to her hometown of Mashhad, Iran, to help her parents relocate for the first time in four decades. Esmaili’s husband, the Iranian documentary producer Hossein Behboudi Rad, captures the trip as moments of familial tenderness and friction unfold. Inspired by Iran’s ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, which was sparked by the death of Mahsa-Jina Amini in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly, Esmaili chooses not to cover her hair during a visit to extended family. This delicate yet deliberate act of protest dismays her mother and unsettles some older relatives, but, among the young women present, it opens up candid conversations about traditions, gender and culture. Through this framing, Esmaili draws out apt parallels between her parents’ change of scenery and shifting attitudes in the country.