Trapped was named as one of Iran’s 12 preliminary nominees for the 2014 Oscar's Foreign Language Film submission.

Synopsis

This fascinating moral thriller is centered on the bristling relationship between two very different young women in contemporary Tehran.

Nazanin (Nazanin Bayati) is a determined first year medical student. Since there is no free space in the university dorm and Nazanin does not have much money, she is obliged to share an apartment with Sahar (Pegah Ahangarani), a party lover who works in a fragrance shop.

Sahar badly wants to migrate from Iran, so she’s borrowed money from a man in the bazaar. When this man makes an opportunistic complaint against Sahar, she is imprisoned.


 

There have been some very some rocky times between the two roommates and their conflicting lifestyles, but Nazanin will now do everything she can to have her friend released.



Cast: Nazanin Bayati, Pegah Ahangarani, Behrang Alavi, Farid Samavati, Ahmad Mehranfar, Amir Samavati

“In Iran there have always been three institutions which have played a decisive role in society: Government, University, and the Bazaar. In the revolution of 1979, it was the cooperation of the University and the Bazaar which led to the collapse of the government. Now there is a vast gap between the University and the Bazaar. In this film, a female university student stands against a man from the Bazaar to begin fighting corruption and spiritual ruin. My aim is to portray the Iranian youth of today and to depict how political and economic conditions influence their lives and relations.” --Parviz Shabazi

Shahbazi’s film is to be presented at the 32nd Vancouver international film festival that kicked off on September 26 and will run until October 11, 2013.

The movie is also to compete at the 49th Chicago film festival that will take place from October 10 through 24.

The movie also received the Best Director Award at the 31st Iran’s most important film presentation and competition, Fajr International Film Festival.