SILENCE BETWEEN TWO THOUGHTS

A young soldier is ordered by Haji, the leader of his tribe, to execute three people. He shoots two men. With the third, a young woman, Haji holds him back: she is untouched, her soul would go to paradise. The soldier is therefore to marry her, consummate the marriage, and only then kill her, so that she goes to hell. The delay this rule forces makes the executioner falter – and with him his faith and his loyalty to the man who commands him. The Iranian Babak Payami shot “Silence Between Two Thoughts” in 2002 and 2003 in eastern Iran.

The film is an attack on the corrosive effect of religious fanaticism. Still in post-production, Payami was arrested by the Iranian authorities, and the negative and sound material were confiscated. He left the country and assembled the film from what copies remained; the version shown in Venice in 2003 was cut together from two video copies. “Silence Between Two Thoughts” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2006.

Shown at the 2006 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2006 · Film Archive