Eight years ago my colleagues and I set out to see what school life was like for 11-13 year olds around the world. I went to Iran, and spent several days with girls at a Tehran school. The building was a large house, once home to a wealthy Iranian family — I speculated they were possibly living in exile since, or forced into smaller accommodation, or perhaps the father was imprisoned or killed, if they had a son he may have been sent to the frontline during the Iran-Iraq war, or been lucky enough to flee the country if he was under 13 — the age of conscription. These houses were taken over by the revolutionary guard in 1979 and 1980 and such scenarios were common.

The school day began in the school courtyard — once the garden — the girls standing in rows in their black uniforms, for assembly. A large swimming pool stood empty along the left hand wall and the inside walls were covered in the regime’s flags. I stood to the side as the girls repeated the morning prayers and anti-West chants coming from a loudspeaker. I watched their faces, finding the same playful expressions of my own school assembly days. The focus may have been different but the distracted anticipation towards the day, best friends by our sides, was the same.

I saw many unfamiliar and disconcerting things while visiting the school, most notably a point system that was at play: The family living room remained furnished with a majestic Persian carpet but the room now served as the school’s prayer room. Girls removed their shoes at the door and entered at their own chosen time during different free periods throughout the day. For each visit to the prayer room they were awarded individual points, accumulated to be able to participate in fun school activities. But what I left the school with, was a sense of proximity to the outside world. The girls’ favourite stories were the Harry Potter books — in translation in the school library — their idea of beauty was Jennifer Lopez, the questions they asked me were those of girls at the cusp of puberty. Trends and fashion seep through even the most austere structures.

Earlier this month Jack Kirby wrote in Guardian Weekly about how the regime controls usage of the English language and the Western culture it provides access to, in Iranian schools and the rest of society.

Now a recent documentary gives us fresh insight into the daily lives of teenage girls in an Iranian school — from surface constraints and pupils being suspended for plucking their eyebrows, to a more important rare glimpse at the girls’ thoughts and ideas.  Director Nahid Rezai was herself a pupil at the school 25 years ago and goes back to introduce herself to the pupils there, reflecting on her dreams and aspirations then, and asking the girls where they would like to be 20 years from now. More a series of vox pops commenting on every aspect of life, the film is exceptional viewing for anyone interested in the individual psyches of  young women in Iran today. Watch it in five 10 minute parts here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLTNZJNP_MY