THE FILM
TITLE: Our Uniform
RELEASE DATE: 12 Jun 2023
WATCH DATE: 21 Feb 2024
TYPE: stop-motion, animated short film (Iranian)
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THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: Yegane Moghaddam
PRODUCER: Jalil Moghaddam
ACTORS: NA
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THE STORY
RUNTIME: 7min
STORYLINE: a young, Iranian woman shares her experiences growing up in a school and wearing a hijab
STYLE/GENRE: drama, stop-motion animation, textiles, Middle-Eastern culture, women
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THE CRITIQUE
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
A brief glimpse into life as an Iranian girl, we learn a lot about girls and women in Middle-Eastern culture. A hijab might not seem like more than a clothing item, but for a girl who wants to be free to wear what she wants, it is quite a bit more.
As she sits at an airport, a young, Iranian woman shares flashbacks of her experience in school in Tehran where she wore a hijab as part of her uniform. The most striking moment for me was when their teacher leads them in this chant: "Down with USA! Down with Israel! Down with Israel! Down with England!", and later… the threat of ‘God hanging you by your exposed hair in the day of judgment’. These moments present a stark contrast to the fun stop-motion, textile visuals of the film. It's not about the hijab... it's about the way of life the hijab represents.
There's no particular opinion expressed one way or another. Just the experience of this girl's life in Tehran. And, in the end, how thrilling it is to travel - because you can wear anything you want.
An exciting and creative mix of animation styles keeps you well-engaged. Textiles fold, roll, crumple, stretch, and wave across the screen. Traditional animation illustrates students and cars and desks and, of course, hijabs on the textiles. I would say it is deserving of its Oscar nomination. Our Uniform is quite a work of art.
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THE RECEPTION
NOMINATIONS
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THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: insightful
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: animation style
REWATCH: yes
RATING: 3 // 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
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