Nila's Dream in the Garden of Eden

Leyla and her 6-year-old daughter live in the northern Iranian city of Mashhad, known not only as an important site for Shiite pilgrims but also for the infamous phenomenon of sigheh – temporary marriage. In Iran, bound by strict religious rules, there’s a legal way to practise adultery. A marriage for an undefined length of time enables men to maintain sexual relationships with women other than their legal wives. As far as society is concerned, the children born out of these marriages don’t officially exist. This is the case of Nila, whose mother tirelessly strives to obtain the birth certificate her daughter needs in order to enrol at school. Leyla launches into a long and traumatising court dispute with Nila’s father, who threatens to take her daughter away once she is 7 – something he is allowed to do by Iranian law. Leyla faces domestic violence and social bullying, yet she doesn’t give up the fight for a better future for her only daughter. (One World)