The Conversation: 'Women Without Men'
Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat talks ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi about her new film.
May 11, 2010— -- Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat has long focused on the struggles of women in the Muslim world in her projects, which have included films and art installations. Her latest film, "Women Without Men," tells the story of the 1953 CIA-backed coup d'etat that ousted a democratically-elected government and installed the Shah as the country's leader.
Neshat illustrates that pivotal time by telling the stories of four Iranian women and their struggles for personal freedom in an oppressive society.
In the Conversation, Neshat talks to ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi about her new project.
Though she now lives in New York, Neshat still has strong ties to her home country. She said that the film is already having an impact in Iran. Before it opened in U.S. theaters, pirated copies were already being distributed in Iranian communities, a fact that delights the filmmaker.
What is Neshat's message with this project, and how did the 2009 protests against the Iranian election affect her as an artist? The answers to those questions and more in today's Conversation.
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