Logline: A young man is mistakenly arrested in 1980s Iran for supposed involvement in a political demonstration.
Synopsis: In spring of 1981, FARZIN ROUHANI (22), a teacher, witnesses a large protest in Tehran. Farzin sees a woman get stabbed by a teenage thug. Amidst the chaos of the demonstration, Farzin is arrested by three Revolutionary Guards who assume that he’s responsible for the “anti-revolution” protest. They take Farzin to the police station where he is put in jail.
Farzin is interrogated about his supposed involvement in organizing the protest. Because he denies the allegations, Farzin is tortured. HAMID, his interrogator, takes Farzin to a different jail where he says Farzin could spend years.
Interspersed montages show the marriage of Farzin’s mother SOPHIE and her husband NEMAT beginning in the 1940s. Sophie’s young and beautiful, and grows bored of life with her older husband. As she yearns for more excitement in her life, Sophie embarks on an affair.
In present day, Sophie visits Farzin in jail. She tries to comfort him the best she can. Farzin spends more time in jail, witnessing the antics of other inmates. Farzin spends his free time writing about the early days of Sophie’s marriage. He does not provide sufficient details for him to be declared innocent. Hamid encourages Farzin to falsely confess.
Hamid tells Farzin that he asked to be taken off Farzin’s case. He knows Farzin is innocent. Hamid says that Farzin must come up with an alibi in order to be released.
Farzin’s “friend” and colleague, BIJAN, visits him in prison. Farzin realizes that Bijan is worried that Farzin may have implicated him. Later, when Hamid and Farzin discuss his innocence again, Farzin reveals his alibi: the morning of the protest, he was coming home from his boyfriend’s (Bijan) house. Hamid then shows his own homosexual desires.
The identity of Farzin’s father is revealed as he nears the end of writing about Sophie’s past. Farzin is given the “Test of Innocence” to see whether he will be freed.
The story is adapted from author's debut novel, Interruptions.
