City of Women 1998

According to Khan Jan’s will, his garden and mansion which are both located in Ab Ask, belong to the Keshtgar and Ashvan families as long as their children are married to each other, otherwise the Keshtgar family has no rights to these properties and they entierly belong to the Ashvan family. Mahta, the daughter of Mirza Hassan Keshtgar, is accepted to med school and all the villagers are happy for her, except her uncle’s wife Malous Khanoum, whose son Borzou now has to wait for her to finish med school and then marry her. While they celebrate Mahta’s success, Malous Khanoum tries to give the engagement ring to her but she can’t take it off of her finger. Mahta claims that she will marry Borzou provided the ring comes off of Malous Khanoum’s finger. While the two families are preparing for the engagement ceremony, a phone call makes everything seem suspicious. The man calling Mahta is the janitor working for one of Narges Khatoun’s relatives. Narges Khatoun was a highly loathed and hated woman because she had decided to choose a man she truly loved as her husband and disregarded her family’s disapproval. Mahta does not intend to explain the situation and expects her family and her uncle to trust and respect her. Borzou however, has traveled with Mahta to the city before and knows who Narges Khatoun’s relative is and also knows the reason of the phone call, which is restoring Narges Khatoun’s decayed tombstone. While men are away loading snow into a large depot as a tradition, the janitor arrives in the village and the tension rises up. Malous Khanoum and her daughter and some of the other inhabitants beat and wound him. Mahta however takes the janitor and Narges Khatoun’s side, who are actually her ancestors. The governor of the city of women encourages Mahta to make decisions for herself on her own. Now that she has full control of her own life, she intends to choose a young groom among the villagers and marry him, but Borzou proves himself before anybody else does as Mahta expected, so she gives him the flowers and they marry each other.