Documentary shock, “Seven winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll tells the story of Reyhaneh Jabbari, hanging for stabbing a man who wanted to rape her, and sheds light on the oppression of women in Iran.

The production of “Seven Winters in Tehran,” co-produced by Germany and France, took more than five years and premiered at the Berlinale Festival during a time when the “Woman, Life, Freedom” revolution was unfolding in Iran. Two years ago, thanks to the presence of Golshifteh Farahani, a prominent actress and critic of the Islamic Republic, on the jury panel of the competition section, and also due to the prohibition of the presence of individuals and entities affiliated with the Iranian government at the festival, the Berlinale was influenced by revolutionary protests in Iran.

“Seven Winters in Tehran” exposes the hierarchy of male dominance within the judicial system and the corruption within this system with disrespect towards women. Therefore, this documentary provides a platform for victims who have been unable to expose the injustices imposed upon them. Women whose work leads them to prison in Iran are subjected to police brutality, fabrication of cases, and coerced confessions for crimes they likely did not commit. Although Reihaneh is no longer with us, it is her resistance that has made it possible to expose this issue.

In “Seven Winters in Tehran,” we meet Reihaneh’s mother, Shohreh, her father, Fereydoun, and her two younger sisters, Sharareh and Shahrazad. Despite their own pains, each family member reflects Reihaneh’s cheerful demeanor. Through their narratives of those seven years, a clear account of events emerges, acquainting the viewer with Reihaneh through those who loved her. The interviews are interspersed with phone calls from the family to Reihaneh and her letters from prison, which are read by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, the actor from “Sacred Spider.” This method creates a complete visual image of the case and an intimate portrait of Reihaneh Jabari.

The documentary “Seven Winters in Tehran” narrates seven years of painful yet profound and insightful life of Reihaneh Jabbari in prison. Her letters from prison bear strong testimony to the mixture of suffering and awareness of a young woman who, from the age of 19 to 27, awaited execution for the murder of a man who attempted to assault her. Reihaneh’s letters in the film are read by the Iranian actress Zahra Amir Ebrahimi. In addition to the letters, the film includes a collection of audio and video files recorded and secretly taken out of Iran by Reihaneh’s family during her years in prison. Among the materials in the film, there are photos of Reihaneh inside the prison.

In an interview with a Persian media outlet, Steffi Niederzoll discusses the production of the film that the story began when I obtained these pieces from the family, which had filmed before and after the trial, not with the intention of making a film in the future, but to show them to Reihaneh when she came out of prison. That was one reason; another reason was that they intended to gather evidence. That was the starting point of the film, so I focused on that. But as usual, my attention was drawn to another subject. I realized how remarkable Reihaneh’s writings were. Some of the writings were read in her voice, but not all of them. When I concluded that the writings must definitely be included in the film and given attention, the question was which images to use. Gradually, a picture formed in my mind. I understood that I had to reconstruct those spaces and show them empty: the prison cells as they were but filming them was not possible, or Reihaneh’s family home. I didn’t have another option—we had to build their model instead of using three-dimensional images. Everything was handmade, which took several months of work.

The meeting of Niederzoll with Shohreh Pakravan, Reihaneh’s mother, who herself has a background in filmmaking and acting, took place in 2017 after Shohreh’s departure from Iran. Ashtafi Niderzoul describes this meeting as “magical.” He says, “After watching all those videos, I felt like I knew Shohreh, and even as if on the day when Shohreh was waiting in the car to hear whether her daughter had been executed or pardoned, I was sitting beside her. I felt a sense of closeness and familiarity with Shohreh, but of course, I was a stranger to her.” According to this German filmmaker, Shohreh Pakravan has been very clear from the beginning about her daughter and what she has been through, and she has been aware for years not only of her daughter’s suffering in prison but also of the inhumanity of the laws and the oppressive nature of the ruling system, through Reihaneh’s narratives from inside the prison.

Niederzoll’s goal in making this film is not only to narrate one case among countless cases of retribution but also to depict the systematic violence within the Iranian judicial system, especially the systematic suppression of women in this system. She says that during her research, she has encountered numerous cases where women accused have received the death penalty “only five minutes after trial.” She refers to an example highlighted in the film: “Samira’s court case, which is also featured in the film, takes half an hour. In this half-hour, the judge sentences Samira, her eleven-year-old sister, and their mother to death.” Niederzoll continues, “I know that men in Iran are also heavily suppressed, but if you read the Iranian law, you will understand what we mean when we talk about the systematic suppression of women. That’s why women are at the forefront of the current protests.”

Shohreh Pakravan is 61 years old. She was 23 when Reihaneh was born. Pakravan sees herself not as a director or an actress but as a “soldier of justice,” and she defines how Reihaneh’s imprisonment and execution connected her with mothers whose children had been executed. She says that before this event, she had a good and successful life, but afterward, she realizes that she had been “living as if all these years were in a dream”: “I realized that when I held my few-month-old Reihaneh in my arms and there was no happiness in this world at all, there were mothers in the same city who buried their heads in pillows and wept bitterly.”

She begins her anti-execution activities by advocating for the pardon of prisoners under retribution sentences and after a while, she starts reaching out and establishing connections with mothers whose children have been executed or killed for political reasons. She speaks about her current activities: “I have gained a lot of experience, and due to my empathy with families whose children are in prison, I try to contact them and if I succeed in reaching out to them, I try to teach them some things. I say, for example, this action is beneficial and that action is not. And if a dear family member is under a death sentence, I share my experiences with them. Additionally, I talk to those whose loved ones have been killed and ask them not to remain silent and invite them to join the advocacy movement.”

Lack of social and legal support for women

The right to self-defense is an important aspect of criminal law that exists in various legal systems, nations, and religions, and it is considered a justifiable cause of crime. This right exists in the Islamic Penal Code of Iran, and Islamic jurists have also paid attention to it. A simple definition of self-defense considers it a right granted by the legislator to individuals to repel a real, current, and unlawful threat to their life, property, or honor or that of another person. Article 625 of the Islamic Penal Code states: “If a murder, beating, or injury occurs when defending oneself, one’s honor, or property, neither the perpetrator nor the other person involved will be punished provided that the defense is proportionate to the threat posed by the perpetrator.”

However, this is not the only point that civil activists opposing executions insist upon. Besides being a significant civil endeavor, opposition to execution sheds light on dark areas that lead to the fate of individuals like Reihaneh. Lack of social and legal support for women and girls who have been subjected to or are at risk of sexual assault raises the likelihood of crime occurrence or maintains the silence of female victims who have remained silent in the face of assault.

Given the shortcomings of the law, the fate of women during assault and sexual harassment is unclear. If they resist, they may face punishment, and if they defend themselves, they may still be unable to prove their innocence due to the lack of evidence. Consequently, due to these legal inadequacies, women often have no recourse other than enduring various forms of physical, sexual, and psychological harassment. In situations where they constantly feel anger and provocation due to the sense of danger and invasion, feelings of disgust and revenge may take over, leading them to commit crimes such as murder. However, the mental conditions of women in committing such crimes are not taken into account by the judge.

Another point to consider is that in Islamic Penal Law, the methods of proving murder in court include confession, testimony, qesas, and the judge’s knowledge. Accordingly, if a person confesses to murder during the initial interrogation, their confession is prioritized as conclusive evidence, and proving the intent and motives for committing murder becomes secondary. This means that evidence of justifiable defense and its proof no longer hold priority for the judge and the court, who, having the primary and fundamental evidence to prove the murder, do not see the necessity of proving secondary motives and are more inclined to close the case. Hence, “testimony” regarding justifiable defense and the defendant’s argument for engaging in an action that led to murder cannot be raised, and the rights of individuals who commit murder in self-defense are nullified.

This is how Reihaneh’s claim that she killed in self-defense against assault did not lead to any change in the court’s verdict.