Outcry. That is the English-language title of Soheil Beiraghi’s fourth feature, Bidad, which has been making waves even before world premiering at the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) on Wednesday.

Festival programmers held back on unveiling the 12th movie in the Crystal Globe Competition until the last minute to allow the filmmaker to travel to the Czech fest. After all, the movie about a Gen Z girl in Tehran who wants her voice to be heard and decides to sing in the streets, even though women are not allowed to perform in public, would not be allowed by the censors in his home country.

Bidad stars Sarvin Zabetian (180 Degree Rule, Terrestrial Verses), Leili Rashidi and Amir Jadidi. Beiraghi (I, Cold Sweat, Popular) wrote, directed, produced and co-edited the movie, and he handled art direction. His Alef Pictures is the production company and is also handling sales.

Directed undercover for safety reasons, Bidad has drawn much attention since KVIFF delayed its announcement, also for safety reasons, and then said that “Beiraghi was investigated by the authorities during filming.”

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively unveiled the trailer for the film about Seti, who won’t be silenced without standing up for herself. Now, ahead of Bidad‘s world premiere at Karlovy Vary, Beiraghi talked to THR, through an interpreter, about why he loves telling stories about strong female characters and just had to make this film about a young woman fighting for a way to soar like her voice does, and the consequences he could face for doing so.

“The film is inspired by all the girls who live in Tehran, who are hurt because of restrictions from their fathers, their families, from their managers, from anyone who has an upper hand over them,” Beiraghi explains. “It’s a story inspired by them and their existence and their lives in Iran.”

The visuals, sounds and music of the movie consistently remind viewers that heavenly voices exist that may never be heard. “All these girls have an angel on the inside that sings, that whispers or sings lullabies,” the filmmaker tells THR. “And it’s nice to imagine that this thing that exists inside of them can have a voice and can sing beautifully. This image is really inspiring for me.”

Beiraghi has developed a reputation for telling the stories of strong women. Where does that come from? “Women are strong,” he replies. “There is an image, especially in Iranian cinema, that women are weak, that they’re unable to do some of the stuff that men can do. They’re often put away in corners. And that is a very false image. We haven’t really been able to express how their lives are really conducted and how important they are. It’s just very different from reality. It is my focus, my goal to change that.”

Concludes Beiraghi: “I truly believe that the saviors of the Earth are women.”

Asked about reports that Iranian authorities have already announced legal sentences against him and some other people involved in the film, the creative tells THR: “They did whatever they could about the film by giving prison sentences and all those restrictions and bans. It doesn’t matter to me anymore. It’s not important anymore. I am here to tell my story, and I told this story about the reality of life in Tehran, in Iran, and how things are.”

The filmmaker says he will return to Iran after his trip rather than seeking refuge abroad and is ready for whatever the authorities may decide and whatever may happen to him then. “They can do whatever they want,” he tells THR. “Now, they arrest me and they restrict me, and then they restrict another person. But what are they going to do about the next mind, the next person, the next creative person who’s going to do something, who’s going to create something? You can’t really control all that. They can’t keep doing this forever. That’s what totalitarian regimes do. They try to control and restrict. But the reality is that they cannot keep doing that forever.”

Beiraghi chose to come to Karlovy Vary to get his film seen and discussed, and he expects it will find its way to Iranians, helped by the diaspora, even though the movie will not get into cinemas back home. “There’s something way more important than official screening licenses and official cinemas in Iran. And that’s the chain, the human chain that exists, which is the community of Iranians anywhere in the world,” he shares. “So, I truly believe that this film will be seen.”

Soheil Beiraghi, courtesy of KVIFF

What about other creatives who worked on the film? “The rest of the team has chosen not to come to the festival. They’ve chosen not to attend the festival because of these restrictions in Iran and everything that’s happening in Iran,” he tells THR. “And I am very respectful of their choice and completely understand why they have made the decision not to come. But I have chosen to stand by my work and stand up for what I have created. That’s the reason why I came, and I accept the risks.”

[SPOILER WARNING: The rest of the article addresses some key scenes in the film.]

Beiraghi didn’t plan it this way, but his choice mirrors one Seti must make at the end of the film.

Seti’s best friend is a caterpillar, and it also goes through a key development. “We see that by the end of the film, the caterpillar has started to make a cocoon around itself, just like Seti is starting to build herself,” Beiraghi tells THR. “And this character will turn into something that will fly and flourish like a butterfly.”

As the end credits roll, we see that the butterfly is born, but it only has one wing. “Because of everything that has happened, it has a disability,” the Iranian filmmaker explains. “It has something taken away from it. But the other wing still remains, so it will continue to move forward and carry on.”