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Review

A heartbreaking drama about the status of lesbians living under religious oppression and one woman's valient efforts to free herself. Unveiled begins with Fariba removing her headscarf in a plane after it leaves Iranian airspace. When the plane lands in Germany, she applies for political refugee status and is transferred to a holding camp near the airport. While there, she meets Siamak, a young Iranian student, also awaiting disposition of his asylum status. When the German authorities determine that Fariba fled because she is a lesbian, the decision is made to deport her. When Siamak learns that his brother has been killed by Iranian police, he commits suicide and Fariba makes the decision to cut her hair and assume his identity. Released from the camp, she gets an illegal job working at a sauerkraut factory. There she comes up against the prejudices of co-workers Uwe, Andy, and Sabine, and also attracts the interest of Anne. But when Fariba learns that "Siamak" is also to be deported, she turns to Anne for help in obtaining a false passport. Anne's help comes with a price: she must know the truth. Unveiled is a heartrending look at the status of lesbians under religious oppression, and of the extremes they must go to to keep their sexual identities intact. (German, Farsi with English subtitles)

 -- Victoria Brownworth