After the director calls action, a woman with a headscarf suddenly enters through the door on set with a story of emotions on her face. She looks distraught—even exhausted. She then silently walks across the living room to a mirror at the end of the room, taking off her headscarf and bringing a comb to her hair. But the longer she brushes, the more aggressive she becomes with the comb. Eventually, the comb is thrown onto the floor and a blood-curdling scream fills the silence.
This moment sets the scene for the student dance film “Baraye.” The film, made by its executive producer sophomore Sarah Fan, has been months in the making.
In 2024, the arts, technology and business innovation student uploaded a video of her and her high school dance team performing to the song “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour. Much to Fan’s surprise, this 10-second clip eventually went viral in Iran’s capital Tehran. Messages from thousands of Iranian women flooded her comment section, writing “thank you for living our dreams” and “It’s not just a song, we lived this song.” What started as a casual post of her past performance turned into something bigger than Fan initially intended.
However, one of the most repeated comments towards Fan’s video was one simple question: “Where can I watch the full show?”
Now Fan is going to give it to them.
With support from 72 backers, the “Baraye” team orchestrated a fundraising campaign that raised over $4,500 to create the film. Now, with a full team of students behind her, Baraye has made its big debut March 20 during women’s history month.
The Grammy-winning song in the film is synonymous to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that transpired in Iran after the death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini in 2022. Amini was detained by authorities after being accused of breaking the country’s Islamic dress code. While she was in the morality police’s custody, Amini collapsed and later passed away in the hospital. Her death sparked outrage all across Iran, leading to a string of protests that killed over 500 people, according to Iran Human Rights.
This backstory and her Middle Eastern background was what convinced junior film and television production major Daniella Raphaël to take on the role of the film’s director.
“I have so many Persian friends. And also being Middle Eastern, I feel closer to the struggle itself,” said Raphaël.
For the film’s production designer, who grew up in Iran and requested anonymity for safety concerns if returning to her home country, joining the project meant that it would give them the opportunity to finally work on a film centered around the women’s rights movement in Iran.
“I think just seeing everyone [on set] from different cultures caring about this really brought me hope,” the production designer said.
The third-year graduate student studying film and television production used their Iranian background to bring Tehran to Los Angeles. With the “Persepolis” comic book sitting in the film’s background and pictures of eyes sticking to a fridge, the “Baraye” set is decorated with symbolism. The photos of eyes, the production designer says, represent the protesters who were blinded by bullets during the movement.
“We remember that this happened and it’s very heartbreaking. So I asked the crew members to send me pictures of themselves and I just cropped a photo of one of their eyes,” they said.
Working on “Baraye” has also been a reflective experience for the cast and crew—a reminder of the privileges they’ve been granted to make such a film in the first place. Iran has strict film censorship laws. Filmmakers are required to get production and screening permits from the Ministry of Culture and Guidance. They also cannot show anything that criticizes or goes against the rules of the Islamic Republic.
“Some people said ‘you guys are not Persian, why are you telling this story?’ And it’s like, they can’t tell the story. They don’t have freedom of speech,” Raphaël said.
Dancing also has its own limitations. In Iran, dancing in public is illegal. In 2023, 5 girls were arrested after posting a TikTok dance to the hit song “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez, according to an Iranian news outlet.
Ella Melideo, the choreographer for the film, said it puts things into perspective to be able to dance everyday without restrictions.
“It’s crazy to think if I was moved somewhere geographically, that I would not have that opportunity [to dance] at all,” Melideo said, a junior who majors in dance. “So with the freedom that we have, I think it’s important that we use it to highlight those who don’t have that freedom—who don’t have that opportunity.”
Being non-Persian, Fan took the initiative to educate herself by bringing in Iranian cultural consultants to help her with the sensitive subject matters presented in the film. It was important to Fan that the consultants, Erin Ching and Roya Shadravan, were there for “all the most important milestones” of “Baraye.” Artificial intelligence for business sophomore Donya Akhavon was also brought in as the movie’s historian.
Fan said that she doesn’t want the film to be a political statement against the Iranian regime. She wants “Baraye” instead to be a dedication towards the pain and courage of the Iranian women who have fought for their human rights.
“Everything that needs to be said is in the song itself. That’s why we have no dialogue, because we don’t want to speak for anyone,” Fan said.
With the film now available to the public on Youtube, the production designer of “Baraye” holds onto hope that there will be a brighter future for the women of Iran. On set, they brought in a birdcage with melted candles to symbolize this message of freedom and desire for change.
“I see women as these beautiful birds that have been trapped inside a cage, and now this cage has opened,” the production designer said. “There is no bird inside of it, but there are these lit candles because of what the community wishes [for].”