Review

Marva Nabili's The Sealed Soil (1977) stands as the oldest preserved feature film by an Iranian female director, yet it has never been publicly screened in its country of origin. This fact underscores that the Iranian government's artistic suppression extends far beyond recent policies. Throughout her career, Nabili directed only two feature films in her lifetime, and her other work Nightsongs (1982), which has not yet been restored, tells the story of a Chinese immigrant family living in New York, mirroring Nabili's own situation as an immigrant in the United States at the time.
The Sealed Soil offers a poetic portrayal of a young woman living in a small village in pre-revolutionary Iran, caught between traditional values and her yearning for independence and individuality. Her family, disturbed by her continued refusal of marriage proposals, eventually becomes convinced she is possessed by evil spirits and enlist the help of an exorcist. Despite working with limited resources and technical constraints, Nabili's disciplined direction yielded a strikingly original and powerful work that seamlessly blends contemporary and classical elements. The sobering fact that the themes Nabili explored nearly five decades ago still remains relevant today highlights how women continue to face judgment and oppression for seeking autonomy and freedom, much like the protagonist of The Sealed Soil. (Sung MOON)

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