Sarvnaz Alambeigi | Iran, Germany, France, 2024, 74'
An Afghan teenager who has emigrated with her parents to Iran strives to pursue her dream of becoming a professional Muay Thai boxer. And she is determined not to let the conservative mindset of her family, her experience of physical abuse nor the anti-immigrant hostility of those around her stop her. Working day and night, she finances her boxing classes without her parents’ knowledge. Through this sport, she hopes not only to succeed in the ring but also to overcome the difficulties of life. Maydegol depicts the perseverance of Generation Z who are seeking to escape their seemingly bleak destinies and assert their rights, with young women in particular looking for freedom – even at the risk of losing their lives. A film that also serves as a mirror for the audience in which they can recognise their own strength.
Sarvnaz Alambeigi is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist best known for documentary filmmaking and painting. She graduated from Graphic Art School and studied painting at the University of Art and Architecture in Tehran. She received film training from 2013 to 2018 at Documentary Campus Masterschool and Danish Film School. In 2013, she founded her own film company, Rabison Art. Alambeigi's most notable work is “1001 Nights Apart”, a documentary released in 2022 in Germany that won the VFF Documentary Film Production Award at DOK.fest Munich. It was shown in cinemas across Germany in 2022, as well as on TV channels such as Arte, SVT, TVO and Avrotros. She is currently a member of Film Fatales, The European Women's Audiovisual Network and the Association of Iranian Documentary Cinema Directors.
