This evening I went to the Somerville Theatre to attend a screening of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir of Books.
I was among the very few patrons who chose to see this film as there was a long lineup outside the theatre to see The Odyssey which would be held in the main theatre which holds approximately 900 people. I'm glad that I arrived at the theatre before they seated the audience for The Odyssey because getting to the bathroom and to the concession stand before the start of the movie might have been an odyssey unto itself.
Reading Lolita in Tehran was screened in Theatre 2 which is situated in the basement and holds just over 60 people. I was one of six people in attendance for this screening.
The film, which was originally released in 2024 but only now released in this country, is an adaptation of Iranian born writer and academic Azar Nafisi's book of the same name which was released in 2003. I recall reading the book the year after its initial release. Of course, two decades have passed since reading the book and specific details have receded into the recesses of my mind.
I had given some contemplation to re-reading the book before viewing the film. However, this would have meant either having to buy the book or borrow it from a library. When I moved to New York in 2018, I surrendered my books and nearly all of my possessions. With all the other things on my plate, I opted not to re-read the book. In retrospect I probably should have done so because I think it would have probably helped me appreciate the film in a broader context.
With that being said, I did not need to re-read the book to remember its premise. Nafisi returned to Iran with her husband shortly after the 1979 Revolution to accept a teaching position teaching English literature. Needless to say, teaching Western literature was frowned upon by certain elements within the university including some of her students particularly her male students who believed books like The Great Gatsby were decadent
Of course, there was also the matter of the Iranian regime mandating women wear the hijab which Nafisi strongly resisted. How she managed not to end up in Evin Prison like her students is no small miracle.
During the mid-1990s, Nafisi hosted several of her former female students at her home on Thursday morning where they would discuss books like Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was in Nafisi's apartments where these women could literally let their hair down and speak their minds - something they could not risk doing in the presence of their husbands, fathers, brothers or even sons. These sessions would ultimately have the effect of spurring Nafisi to leave Iran and return to the United States with her family.
Directed by Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis, Reading Lolita in Tehran stars Iranian born actress Golshifteh Farahani as Nafisi. Farahani does bear a slight resemblance to Nafisi when she was younger and certainly shares her defiant spirit as a critic of the Iranian regime forced to live in exile in France.
The release of Reading Lolita in Tehran in this country is a reminder of the inherently brutal nature of Iran's repressive regime when it comes to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and particularly the rights of women by the regime's morality police. Several of Nafisi's female students were punished by the morality police for alleged illicit behavior with one student being executed in Evin prison.
It is well worth remembering the protests sparked in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, was killed while in custody of the morality police with some women burning their hijabs. Indeed, women were at the forefront of Iranian protests which took place in late 2025 and early 2026 before they were brutally put down by the regime.
Unfortunately, while Reading Lolita in Tehran is a reminder of repression in the Islamic Republic of Iran, there were only six people in the theatre tonight and I suspect most of the people already held the regime in contempt. Alas, it is far more fashionable to accuse Israel of genocide and to physically accost Zionists.
It must also be said that Iran's brutality has also been overshadowed by President Trump's incoherence and malevolence in prosecuting the War in Iran. Trump went from exhorting the Iranian people to take back their government to saying he never cared about regime change in Iran. Because of Trump's mendacious nature, the behavior of the Iranian regime is ignored and even excused. This cannot stand.
Reading Lolita in Tehran is both an important book and an important film. Unfortunately, the growing segment of the American public neither enamored with President Trump and Israel will not likely receive Azar Nafisi's message with an open mind.
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