1001 FRAMES World Cinema

A procession of young actresses interview and audition for the role of Scheherazade in A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, opposite a famous director (Mohammad Aghebati) whose comments and questions become increasingly interrogatory, innuendo-laden and threatening. Iranian American filmmaker Mehrnoush Alia’s debut feature is a provocative riff on the legendary tale, whose heroine escaped the sultan’s wrath by commanding his attention with her tales. The candid stories told by the actresses here offer up-to-the-minute reportage about being a woman in Iran. Shot on a bare modern soundstage and filmed in tight closeup, with the dozen or so actresses playing almost directly to the camera and the mostly unseen director seated just out of the frame, the film plays like audition tapes from hell. Each audition begins well enough, but the verbal impropriety and physical tension ratchet up steadily each time. The ensemble of actresses gives committed, convincing performances whether defiant or frightened in their words and physical reactions. The documentary-like aesthetic further enhances the performative illusion — indeed, some viewers have mistaken the film for an actual documentary — with a fourth wall-breaking coda offering a modicum of relief following the intensity of the viewing experience. –Todd Hitchcock