Against the snowy peaks of the mountains of southwestern Iran, the girl in a turquoise headscarf immediately stands out. She is 13-year-old Samaneh, a Bakhtiari nomad who dreams of studying and longs to explore the world. But when her father is accused of murder, it threatens to bring her childhood to an abrupt end. The victim’s tribe demands compensation based on an ancient tradition: marriage as blood money.
Filmmaker Marjan Khosravi, herself from the Bakhtiari community, documents how the tribe dispenses justice according to its own laws. Through spontaneous interactions, interwoven with scenes that appear to be subtly directed, she shows adults deciding Samaneh’s fate. If her father is to avoid sacrificing her, there is only one way out: to settle the debt by catching seven rare golden-winged partridges. A race against time begins.
Caught between her dream of freedom, the demands of local law, and the changes taking place in her own body, Samaneh continues to hope for a way out. The film becomes a record of both an age-old tradition and the ordeal of a girl put to the test, refusing to submit to her fate.
