The Broker

An Iranian Dating Agency

Inside this traditional Iranian dating agency, the employees are determined to find their clients a husband -- regardless of their personal feelings or preferences.

Shuffling through files and making agitated phone calls, they constantly remind their mortified customers that it's the man who gets to choose, and that a woman without a spouse doesn't have an identity. Which doesn't mean these brokers don't harshly lecture their male clients as well, or that their conservative views don't come with a good dose of humor -- especially since two of them are, ironically, single.

THE BROKER conveys a sense of claustrophobia that mirrors many women's situations, and offers a shocking, tragicomic reminder that the fiercest agents of the patriarchy aren't always men.

Official Selection at the Hot Docs Film Festival.