Morteza is a fi fty-year-old man who has just been released from prison for drug traffi cking and is in the process of trying to rebuild his life. But when he is accused of having drowned a teenager, he finds that it is hard to step out of the shadows of the past. Taher, the policeman investigating the case, is at first convinced of Morteza's guilt, but he soon realises that they are old childhood friends whose lives are connected by another drowning that happened decades ago. Taher also knows that Morteza is probably not responsible for the death. However, he fails to convince his superiors and Morteza does
little to proclaim his innocence. But why does Morteza accept the accusations?
Iranian director Sepideh Farsi succeeds in portraying a sense of disquiet that moves beyond the personal and political into the realm of the metaphysical, while Masoud Raygan excels in the role of Morteza.
THE HOUSE UNDER THE WATER is a sophisticated interrogation of the nature of guilt, innocence and justice.

France, Germany, Iran, The Netherlands 2010, Persian with English subtitles, 35 mm, 92 min

Director: Sepideh Farsi
Screenplay: Mohammad Rezaee Rad et Sepideh Farsi, librement adapté des nouvelles de Bijan Najdi (Editions Markaz)
Cinematographer: Reza Sheykhi

Bijan Emkanian (Taher), Masoud Raygan (Morteza), Fariba Kamran (Maliheh), Shabnam Moghadami (Alieh), Soroush Sehat (Habibi), Behnam Tashakor (Tarighat), Hamid Molavi (Dr. Yavari), Ayeh Kianpour (Khatoun), Ali-Asghar Kashani (Taghi), Aref Kord (Garçon noyé)

Print Source: Rêves d'eau Productions


2011 - 32nd Durban International Film Festival
* Selection
Filmmaker in attendance