Venice Review
'Wednesday, May 9'

Award winner at RIFF 2015

Film Comment


‘Wednesday, May 9’ by Vahid Jalilvand was Iran’s only representative at the 72nd Venice Film Festival to compete in the Horizon section of the event.

“Wednesday May 9” won Discovery of the Year and received the Golden Puffin in RIFF’s Award Ceremony 2015 in Reykjavík. The director of the movie, Vahid Jalilvand, gave an acceptance speech via video.  Twelve films competed in the category New Visions, all debut or sophomore efforts from directors.



The jury was really moved by the stories of three women in contemporary Teheran in Vahid Jalivand’s s first feature film Wednesday, May 9th. Very strong acting and a beautifully woven structure – delivered a really strong film with many layers to be explored. (RIFF)

In this 2015 debut feature, Iranian director Vahid Jalilvand takes a bleak look at modern-day Tehran in three interconnected stories. When a mysterious philanthropist puts an ad in the newspaper offering cash to someone in need, an unruly crowd forms in the street below his office. Among them are a working-class mother (Niki Karimi) whose paralyzed, incontinent husband requires expensive surgery and a young bride (newcomer Sahar Ahmadpour) whose husband will stay in prison without blood money to pay off the man he injured in self-defense. Karimi, one of Iran's most-lauded actresses, has a face as pained and iconic as the woman in Dorothea Lange's famous photograph Migrant Mother. Merciless and at times difficult to watch, this is a powerful portrait of feminine strength in the face of great suffering. (Chicago Reader, Adam Morgan)



Jalilvand’s film, a meditation on grace anchored in a very simple story about a man trying to rid himself of guilt by offering to do good, is the epitome of simplicity and clarity and made with a humility that borders on the self-effacing. (Film Comment, Olaf Möller)



The melodramatic material is expertly played, with the lead actresses especially good. The film doesn't provide any profound insights about urban poverty, yet it successfully conveys the issue in emotional terms, which is exactly what good melodrama should do. (Cine-File Chicago, Ben Sachs)



Excellent acting from top star Niki Karimi in a decidedly unglamorous part in the first episode, and from sweet-faced newcomer Sahar Ahmadpour in the second, raises their tales of woe above mere melodrama. But the third story, about a would-be philanthropist who hasn’t fully considered the best way to distribute his largesse, comes off as forced and awkward. (Variety, Alissa Simon)