Going Up the Stairs

An Iranian woman, Akram, has not taken the routine path to artistic success. She had no creative inclinations until, at age fifty, her grandson asked for her help with a school project. From that moment on, she began stealing her son’s pastels and surreptitiously developing her craft. Now, having been invited to an exposition in France, Akram must ask her husband for his permission to travel abroad. As captured by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami’s playful camera, Going Up the Stairs provides a pitch-perfect glance into a modern Iranian marriage; the film deftly and subtly portrays the absurdities of a modern society where women have no formal power but manage to usurp a share of authority. More than that, it’s a look at a true artist joyfully discovering an unexpected talent and embracing it with humility and grace. –True/False Film Festival