Director Vafamehr’s short film is a glimpse at the life of an Iranian girl whose entire world revolves around war, and death and struggles to keep her innocence in a land filled with bloodshed. In her introduction, Vafamehr explained how she made the film to show how quickly you’re forced to become an adult and how one day she realized that she never had a childhood. “Wind, Ten Years Old” is a poetic drama about a the day in the life of a little girl who struggles to survive in mere grains and rations she’s allowed by her parents and has to find ways to evade bullies seeking to take it away from her, and watch as her society comes to pure chaos.
In one grueling scene, crowds of women stand outside a clinic waiting to be seen and discuss how they simply can’t afford to be sick, due to the overcrowding and low resources. We’re then brought into the young girl’s school day where all hint of education is noticeably missing and the little girls are made to chant war cries, sew soldier’s uniforms, give up their own food for the armed services, and are told that they’re inferior due to the male population’s struggles in battle.
“Wind, Ten Years Old” possesses an interesting eye for detail as star Noori gives off an interesting wide-eyed perspective as she drifts through her village everyday gazing at atrocities and still struggles to grab some semblance of a childhood in government tailoring of women into slaves and servants. Vafamehr’s message is loud and clear, and “Wind, Ten Years Old” is an interesting glimpse into the rarity of childhood innocence in a war torn land.
