Join us on Friday, October 30! Screening + Live Q&A with Director Tanaz Eshaghian and Producer and Cinematographer Gelareh Kiazand.
The Q&A discussion will be led by Armaghan Fakhraeirad, PhD Candidate in music studies at UPenn. Come for the screening and stay for the conversation to follow.
An Eye for an Eye, winner of a Special Jury Mention and Best Documentary Editing awards at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, and winner of The Grand Prix for Impact Documentary at Fipadoc 2026 is a real-life courtroom thriller that takes you inside a justice system unlike any other, where a grieving family gets to decide: retribution, or forgiveness. It's the intimate story of one mother, her daughters, and an impossible negotiation over the price of a life.
The film is directed by Tanaz Eshaghian and Farzad Jafari and critics have called it "taut, emotional and provocative" (The Hollywood Reporter) and "one of the best documentaries of the year" (Loud and Clear Reviews).
Co-Hosted by The Hamdeli Project & Middle Eastern Center at UPenn
Doors will be open at 6:00pm. Light refreshments will be made available but we need attendees seated as we will begin the screening promptly at 6:30pm
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An Eye for an Eye unfolds like a real-life courtroom thriller, with stakes as high as life and death. Years after killing her abusive husband in an act of self-defense, Tahereh now faces execution unless she can pay the Diya—blood money demanded by her abuser’s family. With the clock ticking and public sympathy running low, her son Mohsen is thrust into a desperate race against time to save his mother’s life, turning to outside donors in a society where victims of domestic abuse are often met with silence—or scorn.
With unprecedented access to private negotiations, legal proceedings, and intimate family moments, the filmmakers bring us deep inside a harrowing moral and legal labyrinth. We witness not only the emotional toll on Tahereh and her children, but also the chilling mechanics of a justice system shaped by patriarchal values and religious law. Gripping and deeply human, An Eye for an Eye lays bare the personal costs of systemic injustice—and the fierce resilience of a family fighting for their right to move forward.
Produced by Unchained Productions, Seetô Productions, and Closer Media. Co-produced by Elk Film and Pumpernickel Films. Produced with the support of Danish Film Institute.
