It’s Always Late for Freedom 2007
Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Mehrdad Oskouei
Directed by Mehrdad Oskouei
DVD, color, 53 min., in Farsi, with English subtitles
Middle School - General Adult
Adolescents, Corrections, Criminal Justice, Juvenile Delinquency, Prisons
Date Entered: 01/27/2017
Reviewed by Kathleen Spring, Nicholson Library, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR“It’s all heartaches here,” says Vahid, one young inmate at the Tehran House of Correction, an all-male juvenile detention facility in Iran. Indeed, heartache is abundant in Mehrdad Oskouei’s film It’s Always Late for Freedom, the first in a trilogy of documentaries (Youth Behind Bars: The Iran Trilogy) about the juvenile justice system in Iran. Oskouei presents a compact yet sensitive narrative of what life is like for some of the young men who have been incarcerated for drugs, theft, assault, and other crimes. Through one-on-one interviews with the boys, we gain insight into their back-stories, their feelings, and their hopes and dreams for the future. Oskouei intersperses these direct-to-camera interviews with footage of everyday life – getting haircuts, playing soccer, visiting day, quarrels among the boys, and conversations with loved ones about their impending releases.
The film’s pacing is excellent, and it is well edited. Although there are a few errors in the subtitles, they do not detract significantly or prevent viewers from understanding the dialogue. Educators might find it useful to pair It’s Always Late for Freedom with a documentary about the juvenile justice system in the U.S. to spark discussion about similarities and differences between the two. The film would be suitable for courses in criminal justice, sociology, political science, and international studies.