Nora, a 16 – year – old student, who won the first stage of the school drawing competition, has been selected as a school representative to enter the second stage. Nora feels anxious and worried when she faces the situation, looking for an excuse to exclude herself from the competition.
Suddenly, her eyes catch a plaster on Sepideh’s hand, her friend’s. At the same time, the school headmistress’ words about the cracked and broken mirror in the lavatory come to her mind as a motivation.
After the class break, she secretly enters the lavatory and breaks the mirror with an iron bar, which she found among debris at the corner of the schoolyard. She picks up a piece of broken glass and cuts her hand.
This incident exempts her from the competition. But encounter with this situation causes numerous psychological problems for her when the truth surfaced.
LANGUAGE : Persian COUNTRY : Iran YEAR : 2024 DURATION : 13m DIRECTOR, WRITER : Marziye Feyli PRODUCER : Mohammad Feyli CAST : Sarina Shoja / Shirin Rezaei / Mahoor Fahami CINEMATOGRAPHER : Amir Khosrow Salehi EDITOR : Kaveh Ghahreman SOUND DESIGNER : Peyman Vahedi SOUND RECORDIST : Kavoos Aghaei COMPOSER : Arad Asgari SET DESIGNER : Reza Arabi COSTUME DESIGNER : Marziye Feyli COLOUR CORRECTION : Arash Kazem zadeh MAKE-UP ARTIST : Mahboobeh Olia
Director Statement : I believe a society that respects women and children equally is truly respectful. Ignoring women stems from patriarchal views, while ignoring children reflects both patriarchal and matriarchal biases. Filmmakers should provoke thought rather than offer solutions, as raising awareness helps society address social and psychological issues.
Nora, the protagonist of Crack, faces a problem rooted in a lie that triggers deep psychological struggles, leading her to self-inflicted wounds to escape an unbearable burden. The initial idea for the film came from my own past personal experience, which inspired me to explore these themes. More than anything, I wanted to focus on the lack of genuine relationships and interaction, especially between children and their divorced parents.
In our society, dialogues are fading even among close family members, causing irreparable emotional damage. Nora’s mother is absent emotionally, and this absence isolates her further. Nora tries to imitate her mother and fill the gap by lying, seeking the connection she lacks. The mother’s drawing of Nora does not reflect her true inner self; the cracked mirror in the final scene reveals Nora’s real image. The crack symbolizes her hidden emotions that have never been seen or acknowledged.
This film holds a special place in my artistic portfolio, as addressing children’s and teenagers’ struggles has always been central to my work. Crack is an attempt to pose critical issues rather than solve them, inviting audiences to reflect on the delicate emotional worlds of young people and the consequences of emotional neglect.
Bio : Marziye Feyli (b. 1988, Iran) is an Iranian filmmaker, actor, and editor. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Directing and Acting from Tehran University of Art and a Master’s degree in Acting from Tarbiat Modares University.
She began her artistic career in 2011, performing in twelve stage plays and ten short films, while directing two plays and two experimental short films, “Untitled (100 words)” and Prowl”.” After graduating from the Iranian Youth Cinema Society in 2022, she has been working independently as a filmmaker, actor, and editor.
Her debut professional narrative short film, Crack, explores psychological and social issues, particularly focusing on the experiences and inner worlds of children and teenagers.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
