Summer with Hope (2022)

Young swimmer, Omid ("Hope" in Persian), along with his mother, Leili, and uncle, Saadi, have each placed their individual fates on one vital upcoming swimming competition. In the days and hours before the meet, however, the consequences of failure become clear for each - all of which falls heavily on Omid's shoulders as a responsibility he refuses to bear. As their community jealously and steadily erode the family's façade, layer by layer, to find whatever weakness they can, the family itself also begins to crumble like sand under the weight of the encroaching tide. The second film in Sadaf Foroughi's planned trilogy, SUMMER WITH HOPE examines the pressure-filled expectations of a new generation, for both themselves and their families, as they explore beckoning horizons and newly discovered freedoms. Set against the backdrop of a traditional patriarchal society where tendencies that contradict accepted norms are met with fierce-yet-cloaked resistance, SUMMER WITH HOPE is a classic tragedy of real-world proportions.