In a bold and heartfelt cinematic letter to his mother, the filmmaker Amin Maher reveals the most painful of childhood secrets. The film explores gender confusion, sexuality, guilt, fantasy and repression in relation with violence and identity. “Letter to my Mother” is a means for survival, a way to stand and speak up and to understand. It is an attempt to break taboos and push boundaries – both social and personal, and to create life and art out of the darkest experiences. There are times when cinema itself seems implicated in this difficult story, charting abuse that began at the exact time he was appearing in Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten (2002) which featured the real-life relationship between his mother and Amin.
Short Biography: Amin*a Maher (b. Tehran, 1992) is an Iranian queer filmmaker whose works deal with the themes of gender and sexual violence in relation to political power and social taboos. He began his cinematic activity, as the main actor in Abbas Kiarostami’s “Ten” which featured the real-life relationship between his mother and Amin and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes International Film Festival. Since then he has acted on multiple Films worldwide. His first short film was Sweet Gin and Cold Wine, followed by Orange and One Window Will Suffice. His short film, Letter to my mother was selected at numerous film festivals around the world including 36th Kasseler Dokfest, 34th Mix Milano Film Festival and 15th Shorts México. The film won several awards including the best short documentary on Human Right at Venice Intercultural Film Festival and Award of Recognition at Impact Docs Award. Maher currently studies his MA in directing at Babelsberg University Konrad Wolf.