Can I Hug You?
Elahe Esmaili
Iran / Col / 30'00"/ In Persian with English subtitles
Hossein and Elahe are filmmakers from Qom, an Iranian city known for having the highest rate of gender segregation, with many restrictions on human rights, particularly on women's rights to ensure "safety of the society". Hossein has suffered from same-sex sexual abuse during his childhood, which have brought great impact to his life. Toxic masculinity and the associated stereotypes made him not able to talk about it. With the support from his wife, Elahe, he can finally confront his trauma.
Artist's Statement
For a long long time, I had been looking for a film about this topic, butI never found one. We talk a lot about sexual abuse but we are rarely taught the ways to support the victims. I wanted to highlight that all of us need to be prepared to support our beloved ones in such cases.This is a film for anyone who would, by watching this film, feel lessalone as I had felt; anyone who wants to talk about these issues but not yet ready to share their own experiences; and many more...
Juror's Comment
Iranian films typically have extremely high storytelling skills, and their themes are always disturbing (as witnessed in other Iranian films this year). This documentary portrays a wife recording her husband overcoming the horrible trauma of his past, and in light of this theme, I consider it to be a relatively more meaningful work compared to other Iranian movies. I believe it is a work that is valuable and powerful in terms of its ability to express the goodness and virtuous part of human nature. (Adam Wong)
