SYNOPSIS

This documentary follows Leila and Sahand, who have been in an adulterous relationship, and their child, Mani, as they go into exile in Turkey to flee Iran and the potentially deadly consequences of how their family was formed. In this unlikely love story, this fractured family tries to make themselves and their family whole again by legitimizing their love and their lives as asylum seekers. This film provides insight into intimate moments and hardships, impossible questions, and the persistent desire to thrive, as this family attempts to start a new life together while being forced to grapple with the bureaucracy and politics of international laws that legislate love and relationships.

Key Participants

• Leila, a married woman who was forbidden to get a divorce and could have been deathly punished for infidelity with Sahand
• Sahand, Iranian man who has been in a long-term adulterous relationship with Leila
• Mani, Leila and Sahand’s “love child” who is four years old at the beginning of the film
• Eva Mulvad, Director and Writer
• Lea Glob, Co-Director
• Henrik Grunnet, Writer

Key issues

• Asylum seekers and process of Asylum
• Politics of Belonging: Country, Home, and Happiness
• The complexities of belonging, not belonging home and yearning. Documenting Humanity: Citizenship and Struggle
• The way countries and their rules value life, love and happiness
• The boundaries of love and happiness