It's Always Late for Freedom

It's Always Late for Freedom is a 2006 Iranian documentary directed by Mehrdad Oskouei. The film depicts the life of three teenager boys in Tehran House of Correction. They are portrayed as victims of serious social problems such as addiction, poverty and divorce, which the Iranian society is faced with.

Festivals and awards

• 9th Thessaloniki Int'l Film Festival, March 16 to 25, 2007, Greece ^[1]
• 3rd Ukrainian Int'l Documentary Film Festival, 2007, Kiev, Ukrain
• Special Jury Diploma
• Vision du Reel Int’l Documentary Film Festival, 2007, Nyon, Switzerland^[2]
• 2nd Iran’s Film Festival,2007, Utrecht, Netherland^[3]
• 5th Lisbon Int'l Documentary Film Festival, 2007, Lisbon, Portugal^[4]
• 50th Int’l Leipzig Documentary and Animated Film Festival, 2007, Leipzig, Germany^[5]
• 10th Les Rencontres Int'l du documentaries DE, 2007, Montreal, Canada^[6]
• Courmayeur Noir in Festival,2007, Rome, Italy^[7]
• 7th Int’l Film Festival Watch Documentaries, 2007, Warsaw, Poland^[8]
• Nominated of The Best Mid-Length Award
• 4th TRI Continental Film Festival, 2008, New Delhi, India^[9]
• 7th Doc Point – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, 2008, Helsinki, Finland^[10]
• Festival Black Movie, February 1 to 10, 2008, Switzerland^[11]
• Hot Docs Int’l Documentary Film Festival, 2008, Toronto, Canada^[12]
• Fifth Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Yerevan Int’l Film Festival July 13 to 20, 2008, Yerevan, Armenia^[13]
• Argenmex Film Festival, 18 to 26 Oct 2008, Mexico^[14]
• 1th Fida Doc'souss - International Documentary Film Festival in Aghadir, Morocco, 2008^[15]
• 15th Int’l Documentary Sheffield film Festival, 2008, Sheffield, UK^[16]
• Nominated of John Grierson Award
• Med Int’l Film Festival, 2008, Rome, Italy^[17]
• Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, 2008, Boston, USA^[18]
• CNEX Int’l Film Festival, 2008, Beijing, China and Taiwan^[19]
• 8th Festival du Film Amazigh, 2009, Siddi bel abbas
• Int’l Children’s Film Festival (CMS), 2009, India^[20]
• 6th Planet Documentary Review Film Festival, 2009, Warsaw, Poland
• School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London/ SOAS), 2009, UK ^[21]
• The Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival, 2009, Toronto, Canada^[22]
• Middle East Now Int’l Film Festival, 2012, Florence, Italy^[23]
• ”Retrospective of Mehrdad Oskouei’s films, Images Cinema, 2011, Williamston, USA^[24]
• Bill Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami, 2011, Miami, USA
• “Retrospective of Mehrdad Oskouei”, DAS IRANISCHE WIEN, Filmarchiv Austria, 2012, Vienna, Austria
• Special Jury Award* at the 3rd Ukrainian Int'l Documentary Film Festival, 2007, Ukraine
• Runner of Trophy* at the TRI Continental Film Festival, 2008, New Delhi, India
• The Best Mid-Length Documentary Award* at the Hot Docs Int’l Documentary Film Festival, 2008, Toronto, Canada^[25]
• Special Jury Award* at the Med Int’l Film Festival, 2008, Rome, Italy^[26]
• Mention of the Jury* at the 6th Planet Documentary Review Film Festival, 2009, Warsaw, Poland

Director’s biography

Independent producer, filmmaker, photographer and researcher. Oskouei was born in Tehran, Iran in 1969. He has a B.A. in film direction from the University of Arts, starting in the theatre in 1981 and the film world in 1988. Most of his films have been shown at various festivals both at home and abroad with many receiving critical acclaim. His films have received over 100 awards from national and international festivals makes him one of the most outstanding Iranian documentary makers. In 2010, Oskouei received the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands for his achievements.

His film The Last Days of Winter has been released in France in 2013 with successes.

Filmography

Feature Documentary Film

• 2007: It's always late for freedom

Mid length Documentary Films

• 2011: The Last Days of Winter
• 2009: The Taste of Iran (Episode 1 & 4) BBC World.
• 2007: It's Always Late for Freedom
• 2005: Nose, Iranian Style
• 2004: The Other Side of Burka

Short Documentary Films

• 2005: Maryam of Hengam Island
• 2002: The Widower
• 2002: I Can't Remember Anything About Afghanistan
• 2000: My Mother's Home, Lagoon

Film reviews

• The film expresses the obvious and fundamentally negative aspects of juvenile incarceration^[27]

By Omid Tofighian

It’s Always Late for Freedom is a film about the most sensitive moments associated with transition and the most potent emotions it evokes. The film is about a ‘rite of passage’ or, more accurately, a ‘baptism of fire’ that three children are initiated through. On a more theoretical level, the film can also be interpreted as a simile expressing the trials and tribulations of societies or nations during the course of progress.

Mehrdad Oskouei’s documentary must not simply be seen as only a tale about the lives of children in a juvenile detention centre. It is also a reflection of some of the most compelling problems faced by individuals as they struggle toward maturity and the strongest emotions felt as they grapple with social and personal evolution. Stages of development and their corresponding emotions are depicted through the experiences of Oskouei’s three protagonists, Vahid, Ali and Sajad. By describing the ordeal of three boys in a house of correction he is simultaneously prescribing possibilities for instilling hope; gaining knowledge through feelings of regret; and understanding the significance of innocence in the face of injustice.

References