On the day Roshanak commits suicide at her upper Tehran kindergarten, it is her younger sister, Mojdeh who is called. At the hospital, Mojdeh faces the incredible truth: her sister is gone. She killed herself. A TV anchor seems to think his show is responsible for her act. He wants Mojdeh to stay low profile. Stunned, Mojdeh can hardly tell Amir, her husband, what happened. What about her parents? They decide to bring them the bad news in person. But when Mojdeh mentions Roshanak, the parents are not interested. They had plenty of her mood swings and drama. Mojdeh leaves without saying anything. She starts the administrative process at the morgue and wants it all done fast. Amir questions her. She does not want to talk about Roshanak’s death anymore. Why should she impose her passing to her parents? Mojdeh starts considering having a private funeral with only her and Amir attending. Amir is shocked by her attitude. How can his wife erase her sister from their life?
Some years ago, someone close to me committed suicide. During her funeral, despite the sorrow and grief, her parents seemed relieved. She did not want to live her life as she was told and it meant a lot of trouble in a traditional society. She kept confronting her family as they tried to put her in the box of a fine lady. She was a burden for her loved ones. From that day I started wondering: if I disappeared, would my parents be relieved? I do not want to tell another story of oppressed women in Iran. This is why the two sisters’ troubles are not their husbands, but themselves when one fades away. I want the audience to recreate what I hide from them. My off screen allows them to build the full picture. I believe cinema is not what you show, but what you hide; like my characters. Searching to understand and see the unseen is the ultimate cinema for me. "Diaphanous" is about people who have become invisible to each other. This is what I see when I look at people around me. This is Iran today.
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