Synopsis
Mania Akbari starts shooting a film titled Women Do Not Have Breasts. It is a story about a couple by the name of Ava and Ashkan who live in a beautiful house located in the outskirts of the city with their caretaker couple, Maryam and Rahim. Ava is a poet and a writer, and Ashkan is a man from an upper class and bourgeois background. Ava is constantly dissatisfied by her life with Ashkan. Her loneliness as an artist and her living as a married homemaker has turned her life into a crisis. Ashkan always tries to change Ava into someone that he likes. As time passes Ava’s confusion increases and she gets distanced further from her marriage. She has a deep and intimate relationship with their maid Maryam without the knowledge of Ashkan. Maryam is a young, attractive, lively and concomitant woman. She pays especial attention to Ava and cares for her deeply. In the second half of the film Maryam disappears and due to the lack of her presence Ava’s situation becomes more turbulent, and she finds it even more difficult to deal with her marriage. The conflict between Ava and Ashkan peaks further. Roya, Ava’s sister, who has a close and deep relationship with her constantly tries to help hold Ava’s marriage together. Since she is alone, she is afraid of her sister going through the same, and believes loneliness is not healthy for any woman. Roya supports and helps her sister in any way in order for Ava to reach her artistic ideals and purpose, but constantly advices her to preserve and care for Ashkan, since she does not think that being an artist and married are conflicting. Ava on the other hand is against her sister’s point of view and thinks that art rises from her insanity. She feels that her daily married life with Ashkan is suppressing her lunacy and creativity. Ava gets pregnant again and for the second time, without telling Ashkan, decides to abort the child. Roya tries to convince her that in order to save and preserve her marriage she should keep the child. Mania makes the film up to this point, until a few filmmakers are arrested in Iran. Since she is tired of the barred atmosphere of filmmaking in Iran and none of her films have gotten permission to be made and exhibited inside of Iran, also knowing that it is not possible to make a film in a closed environment, and not being able to create bravely and being cautious conflicts with art, she takes her unfinished film and leaves her country. She faces the reality of her situation, decides to finish her film in London, and changes the title from Women Do Not Have Breasts to From Tehran to London(2012).