With her enthusiasm and humour, Lidewijde Paris ping-ponged with the audience about meanings, interpretations and emotions. She provided viewing tips ahead of time so that after the screening, she could discuss the story and how it is told step-by-step with the audience. What symbolism was on view and how should you interpret the film's title? Was there a tipping point in the story? How did the film steer the viewer's emotions? She pointed out, where appropriate, literary techniques, and gave examples from famous novels. Note: Dutch spoken.

In the Iranian short film The Dinner Party, her daughter's engagement party is a more than stressful affair for Najibeh, who is the perfectionist mother at the heart of Neda Jebelli's vibrant short film.

It is not just about looking after her guests, but she also has to deal with a family secret and the political turmoil raging outside her door. The film is set entirely in the kitchen, with the women, behind the scenes of the party, where their courtesies and labels slowly crumble.

The Dinner Party is based on the writer/director's personal experiences as a teenager in Tehran during the 2009 Green Revolution. Instead of situating her film in the middle of the protests, she wanted to look at it from a different perspective: the female, domestic space. Within this domestic microcosm, power shifts strangely begin to mirror those of the outside world.The result is a film with depth, functioning not only as domestic drama but also as a political voice.

The Dinner Party (2023, 13 minutes)
Directed by: Neda JebelliIran.
With: Nazanin Farahani, Shaghayegh Shourian, Sarah Sajjadi, Pooneh Parsaie.