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And, Towards Happy Alleys is a 75-minute documentary by Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh about Iranian cinema, poetry, censorship and women’s lives. Rather than offering a comprehensive history of Iranian film, Singh follows her own encounters with filmmakers, activist Nasrin Sotoudeh and everyday Tehran, turning an outsider’s admiration into a more self-aware exploration of connection across language.
What is And, Towards Happy Alleys about?
Released in 2023, the film follows Singh’s effort to meet the Iranian filmmakers and visit the places that shaped cinema she admired. Her route brings her to directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Shirvani, human-rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, and other people whose lives and work intersect with questions of censorship, women’s restrictions and creative expression. The Criterion Channel describes the film as an encounter with Iranian filmmakers and Sotoudeh, with attention to censorship and Iranian women’s lives (Criterion Channel).
Its scenes range from conversations about film and politics to daily life: Singh sings in Persian, visits poet Forugh Farrokhzad’s grave, and films young women celebrating a football victory in a mall. The mixture matters. The women are not presented only as symbols of hardship; the film also makes room for pleasure, friendship and agency. Sheffield DocFest similarly describes the work as connecting cinema and culture with interviews and activist portraits (Sheffield DocFest).
How does Singh’s perspective change the film?
Singh’s own presence is part of the subject. According to Nandini Ramnath’s 2024 interview in Scroll.in, Singh studied Farsi in India and travelled to Iran for doctoral research on exiled filmmakers in post-revolution Iran. She filmed herself during trips to Tehran from 2015 to 2019, despite having no formal filmmaking training; she shot and produced the documentary. Filming wrapped in 2019, and the film took five years to complete while she pursued production grants. Ramnath reports that it was initially self-funded in part with Singh’s PhD stipend and lecturer income (Scroll.in).
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A moment on a bus makes the limits of the filmmaker’s position visible: a woman asks Singh whether she is filming her. Singh called the exchange a “reality check,” and said the film’s language shifted afterward. “The language of the film slowly emerged – everything was happening together,” she explained to Ramnath. The camera is not a neutral window; it changes the encounter and prompts Singh to consider what it means to observe someone else’s life.
That self-reflection also shapes the film’s cross-cultural exchange. “Because of language, the effort, my rootedness and academics, the Iranians gave me their stories, but I think I gave them some of my music,” Singh told Scroll.in. She described the documentary’s method this way: “These kinds of documentaries grow from life experiences, from being present.”
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Why are Iranian cinema and poetry central?
The project begins with Singh’s fascination with Iranian cinema and the poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad. Farrokhzad’s poetry was quoted by Iranian filmmakers, and she directed The House Is Black in 1962, as Ramnath notes. A visit to Farrokhzad’s grave therefore links Singh’s personal admiration to a broader creative history, without turning the documentary into a survey of that history.
Jafar Panahi appears as a vivid presence, including in a scene of him driving that recalls his film Taxi Tehran. Through Panahi, Singh meets Aida Mohammadkhani and Mina Mohammadkhani, who appeared as children in The White Balloon and The Mirror, respectively, Ramnath reports. Their appearance connects the films Singh grew up admiring with the people who made and inhabited them.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11For readers seeking more context on Iranian cinema and poetry, Ramnath’s article refers to Hamid Dabashi’s book Makhmalfbaf At Large: The Making of a Rebel Filmmaker. It is a contextual reading suggestion, not a book featured in Singh’s film.
How does the film approach protest and women’s lives?
Ramnath reports that Singh was in Tehran when protests broke out in 2018 against laws requiring women to wear hijab in public. The documentary also addresses controls over women’s bodies and the restriction on women attending football matches at stadiums, using Panahi’s Offside (2006), which dramatizes that restriction, as part of the cinematic context. These details describe the film and the period covered in Ramnath’s account; they should not be read as a statement of current law or conditions.
Alongside those subjects, the film attends to ordinary acts of expression. Ramnath describes young women celebrating a football win in a mall and girls in a classroom joining Singh in song despite a teacher’s warning. The contrast places constraint and resistance beside humor, music and shared enthusiasm. Empathy here is not simply sympathy for people facing restrictions; it grows from being present with them as individuals whose lives exceed those restrictions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can you watch or license the documentary?
As of October 8, 2026, the Criterion Channel catalogue lists the film with a “Watch Now” option. That listing does not establish availability in every country, and access can change. Check the service’s current catalogue for your location (Criterion Channel).
Collective Eye Films lists educational licensing formats for institutions. Its catalogue identifies Farsi and English audio and English closed captions; educators, libraries and campus film programs should confirm current licensing terms and availability with the distributor (Collective Eye Films).
Quick Recap
| Access route | Who it suits | What the catalogue establishes | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criterion Channel | Individual viewers | A “Watch Now” listing, accessed October 8, 2026 | Whether the film is available in your country and the current access terms |
| Collective Eye Films | Universities, colleges, libraries and other institutions | University/college DVD with public performance rights, digital site license, and combined DVD plus site license; Farsi and English audio with English closed captions | Current license terms, availability and suitability for the intended screening |
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