Hayedeh Safiyari and Soren B. Ebbe won Best Editing in a Documentary Feature at 2025 Tribeca Intwernational Film Festival for An Eye for an Eye (Denmark, Iran, United States) – World Premiere. “For its narrative precision, for locking us inside a moral crucible without relief, and for weaving a multigenerational, deeply personal story that gives equal weight to all participants with searing emotional impact, and for the clarity and courage of its storytelling. Not one frame feels gratuitous as the film barrels relentlessly towards its conclusion.”
An Eye for an Eye directed by Tanaz Eshaghian, Farzad Jafarialso received Tribeca’s Special Jury Mention for Documentary Feature. Here is the Jury statement: “At a time when women’s rights are eroding globally, the jury would be remiss if we did not recognize the courageous, unflinching, gut wrenching, verité virtuosity of a film set in a society that severely limits women’s rights, even those of victims of extreme domestic violence. The story unfolds in real time with life and death hanging in the balance, leaving the audience breathlessly invested in the outcome.”
An Eye for an Eye unfolds like a real-life courtroom thriller, with stakes as high as life and death. Years after killing her abusive husband in an act of self-defense, Tahereh now faces execution unless she can pay the diya—blood money demanded by her abuser’s family. With the clock ticking and public sympathy running low, her son Mohsen is thrust into a desperate race against time to save his mother’s life, turning to outside donors in a society where victims of domestic abuse are often met with silence—or scorn. With unprecedented access to private negotiations, legal proceedings, and intimate family moments, the filmmakers bring us deep inside a harrowing moral and legal labyrinth. We witness not only the emotional toll on Tahereh and her children, but also the chilling mechanics of a justice system shaped by patriarchal values and religious law. Gripping and deeply human, An Eye for an Eye lays bare the personal costs of systemic injustice—and the fierce resilience of a family fighting for their right to move forward.—Cara Cusumano
