»It was very important for me to make a film without any compromises. A film pure ‘to its core’ in all of its aspects. In the narrative form, the visual approach and the editing as well – all resting on a number of choices. The first of which was to limit the film to Ali’s flat, and to keep close to his point of view. To see the world through his eyes (…). The second key choice was deciding not to give in to any censorship – unlike most Iranian films – and to film the scenes in what I felt was the right way, in order to follow the characters’ feelings and develop their relationship explicitly. This, along with the political themes in the film, meant selecting Iranian exiles for our Iranian crew and actors. It also meant not being able to shoot the film in Iran, for obvious security reasons.«
– Sepideh Farsi

Teheran in June 2009. Whilst the green revolution rages on the streets, Ali, a politically resigned fifty-something, is preparing to emigrate. But then he offers Sara, a young activist, shelter from the police. Engaging in highly intense discussions, the unequal couple begin to approach one another.

Red Rose is an intimate play about political attitudes, gender and generation conflict, not to mention the future of Iran, which combines a cinéma vérité style and mobile-phone footage of the protests with the plot. Sepideh Farsi made the film in Greece.

German premiere