'Running Away' is a powerful and heart-breaking
documentary about a group of young runaway girls who are taken to a
women's shelter in Tehran-Iran. The film focuses on the sufferings of
young girls who struggle to free themselves from the tyrannical and
abusive power of their families, mainly their fathers, brothers, and
stepfathers -- a subject rarely touched upon by Iranian filmmakers. The
sisterly feelings of the girls towards each other, their spiritual
strength, their courage to rebel, and their wit are shown with a great
degree of compassion and empathy in the film. The filmmakers have
beautifully criticized the patriarchal system of family and the
destructive power of male family members over the lives of their daughters
and sisters. Although the film focuses on the poor uneducated families,
one can imagine that the issue of confinement and abuse goes beyond the
issue of class when it comes to the problem of domestic violence and the
desire to control women through anger, aggression, and madness.?
