Pregnancy, pulled into two separate equations, becomes the theme connecting two films screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). What becomes a huge obstacle to the dreams of one young woman living in a country where abortion is banned, turns out to be the antidote to fixing another woman’s strained relationship with her mother. Power Alley from Brazil and The Persian Version, which tells the story of an Iranian immigrant family in the United States, are both on the side of the women, just in two entirely different ways.
Power Alley’s protagonist is younger, a high school student of 17, and the star of the girls’ volleyball team. Sofia with her eye-catching blond highlights and athletic body is clearly built for the sport, she is her coach’s pet and the main attraction for the agent scouting for talent for a scholarship. Sofia has a great team of co-players and friends, going through issues of their own but ready to lay down lives for each other. The camaraderie of the youngsters is spirit-lifting. Even the coach, a woman old enough to be their mother, stands by them like a rock. But an unplanned pregnancy is suddenly in the midst of their lives, blocking their hopes.
Abortion is illegal in Brazil, punishment can vary from one to four years for the person undergoing abortion and the one performing it. But Sofia is very clear about what she wants. She tells her friend and partner and later her father, who had been encouraging of her sports career but seems to think abortion is not an option. It takes an older woman to tell the father that he has to stand by her. The pregnancy would not only wreck her scholarship but even her participation in future games. There is a whole lobby of anti-abortion activists, going out of their way to bring shame to families that try for abortion, and meddle in every way possible. Director Lillah Halla simply puts these characters out there, leaving you to be the judge of them.
Watch: Trailer of Power Alley
The Persian Version, directed by Maryam Keshavarz, begins from a very different setting, as its protagonist crosses the road wearing a headscarf and an upper garment over her underwear. This young woman, narrating her story to the viewer, could have her way. She could have a child or not, it is her call. But gently, she takes you back to the country her parents had come from, to Iran where her mother in the 1960s was not allowed to go to high school. The mother who got married at 13 and bore many boys and a single girl – the protagonist Leila – is harsh on the only daughter. For Leila, pregnancy becomes a way to patch things up with her mother. It comes when she has finished her studies and works as a filmmaker. It is accidental too, like Sofia’s, but Leila is not thrown off by it. Although she makes a funny crack (“I would have preferred cancer”), she tells the father of the child, “don’t feel any pressure but I think I will keep it.”
In Sofia’s story we don’t see the father at all, he is brushed off as someone unimportant. It is interesting how LGBTQIA+ stories are portrayed in both the films. Sofia’s gang of friends include members of the community, fighting their fights, while she and her closest mate get romantic in a very organic moment. LGBTQIA+ rights in Brazil are ranked among the highest in the world, marriage and adoption legal for same sex couples.
But in Leila’s family, her relationship and marriage to her lesbian partner is looked down upon by the otherwise all-efficient mother. The siblings don’t seem to mind, and appear a silly lot making jokes about the new guy as ‘the ugly one’.
The Persian Version is a lighter watch with the narration, the humour, and even songs and dances like in a Bollywood film. It appears like a mix of a Hollywood comedy and a Bollywood drama, with elements of Persian culture. Enjoyable and thought-provoking, the film falls back on the familiar trope of mending relations with a child. Abortion is not considered, Leila apparently ready to take on the new role, even as she lays down the conditions — she will not stop working because she is having a baby.
Watch: Trailer of The Persian Version
On the other hand, Power Alley is unapologetic about its 17 year old protagonist’s choice to not keep the baby. The attempts to guilt-trip her by meddling characters (“look, the baby already has eyelids”) become arrows that Sofia dodges. Serious in its approach and fun in its portrayal of the teenagers, Power Alley is gripping and heartwarming. Both the films admirably give agency to its women to go with or against the tide as they wish to.