Under a Starless Sky

One family's journey through the turmoil of the 1978 revolution, when the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran, and their escape over the mountains to Turkey, and ultimately to Australia. Banafsheh is eight when the revolution begins in Iran. At first her family are jubilant about the collapse of the Shah's rule and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini, but they quickly realise that Iran has traded one dictator for another, more ruthless, ruler. Banafsheh's parents, Kamal and Nina, struggle with the harsh laws of the new revolutionary Iran. Khomeini's revolutionary guard, the Komiteh, patrol the streets, enforcing Islamic codes of dress and behaviour, and dispatching harsh justice to perceived enemies of the revolution. They drag Nina's father in for questioning, interrogate Nina and put Kamal on a stop-list, so he is unable to leave the country. Fearing for the safety of their two children, Kamal and Nina decide the family must flee their beloved country, leaving behind their extended family and friends. But the only way of escape is to take the dangerous route across the Turkish mountains.