The Hidden Half

The Hidden Half Nimehye Penhan is a 2001 controversial drama film, written and directed by Iranian feminist Tahmineh Milani. The film stars Niki Karimi, Mohammad Nikbin and Atila Pesiani. The story is told as a manuscript of Fereshteh Samimis Niki Karimi life, revealing her politically active and romantic past life, to her husband Mohammad Nikbin.

The story is told through a manuscript which Fereshteh Niki Karimi leaves for her husband Atila Pesiani to read. This manuscript tells the story of her life when she wasyears old and attending the University of Tehran. Fereshteh becomes interested in the fall of the Shah and other such political topics, and so joins a revolutionary, communist group. She gives out fliers, which was illegal as it was the Islamic Revolution period of 1978. Through the group, the young girl meets an older man, a proMossadeqera intellectual and magazine editor, Roozebeh Mohammad Nikbin, who is intrigued by her naive dedication to a noble cause. While government authorities inspect the university and streets of Tehran for revolutionary activists, Roozebeh presents Fereshteh with an opportunity to flee abroad to England. However, when Roozebehs wife finds out about the young lady, she informs her of Roozebehs family. Thus, when Fereshteh finds out about the intellectuals wife and son, as well as the fact that she is a lookalike of his childhood sweetheart, she cuts all contact with him. She then marries her husband and does not inform him of her hidden past, only to reveal it to him when he tells her about the woman who is sentenced to death, whom he is interviewing for an appeal. Fereshteh does this in hopes that her husband will listen to the woman in a less critical and more understanding view, and to reveal to him her hidden half.Because of The Hidden Half, Tahmineh Milani was arrested in 2001 for two weeks by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Court, accusing her of supporting counterrevolutionaries through film. She was then out on bail. ........

Source: Wikipedia