Every four years, in what has become a ritual of the country's election season, Iran's public broadcaster allots a half-hour of primetime to each of the country's presidential candidates, to use as they see fit. Anticipation was highest for reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's film. Not only had Mousavi earned the devotion of much of the country's youth and its urban middle and upper classes, but it was widely considered a coup that his campaign had signed one of Iran's most beloved directors, Majid Majidi, to direct his campaign documentary. The film -- inspiring set pieces from around the country and selections from the candidate's life devoted to service, all deftly woven with religious undertones and nationalist music -- didn't disappoint.
There were also plenty of visual reminders that Mousavi has become a vessel for the hopes of the country's fervent population of university students -- the film didn't lack for shots of chicly-dressed, flatteringly lit young people. But as Ali, a student at University of Tehran who supports Mousavi, put it, "You get the feeling that the filmmaker was more impressive than the star." Ali shook his head contemplating all the mistakes his preferred candidate had made in the single half-hour of footage. Recounting a scene in the film where a young man together with his toddler boards Mousavi's campaign bus to complain about the country's lack of equality, Ali shrieked in despair: "Why didn't he kiss that baby?"
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