The Apple

One of the first films of the Iranian New Wave, The Apple is the extraordinary debut of Samira Makhmalbaf, made when she was just seventeen. Based on a bizarre but engaging true story, the film centres on a pair of twelve year-old twin sisters who are being kept virtual prisoners all their lives by their parents, for fear that exposure to the sun will cause them to fade. Told with unaffected charm and natural humour, The Apple won the BFI London Film Festival's Sutherland Trophy for best first feature and its young director went on to become one of Iran's most acclaimed filmmakers.