Dust Flower Flame is a documentary film about the life of Tahirih, also known as Qurratul-‘Ayn. Tahirih was a woman of letters who lived in the nineteenth-century, in Qajar Iran. Her name is synonymous with the emancipation of women and social justice and her life has inspired generations of women ever since, particularly Iranian women’s right movements.
Since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran forbids any literature or discourse that portrays Tahirih in a positive light. Her name has been removed from the latest editions of history books published in Iran. Instead the State seeks to tarnish her memory by depicting her as an apostate and a prostitute in numerous state-sponsored publications.
Tahirih Qurratul-‘Ayn was strangled to death secretly one summer’s night by order of two high-ranking clergymen, upon approval of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the King of Persia.
The screening will be followed by discussion.
Directed by Shabman Tolouei. In Persian with English subtitles. 67 minutes.