Karlovy Vary Award Winner ‘Bidad,’ About Rebellious Iranian Singer, Acquired by Pluto Film (EXCLUSIVE)

Berlin-based Pluto Film has acquired world sales rights to Iranian director Soheil Beiraghi’s “Bidad,” which won the Special Jury Prize at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival earlier this month.

Beiraghi’s fourth film, produced independently, follows the young rebellious singer Seti, who fights for her voice to be heard despite the political oppression that women face in contemporary Iran.

Variety’s review said the film, “like its magnetic 20-something protagonist Seti, remains defiant, insisting that female voices be heard in a society determined to silence them.”

Speaking to Varietyabout the risk of showing the film abroad, Beiraghi said: “I have nothing but this film. That’s why I’m attending the festival, no matter the outcome and no matter the risk.

“We were immediately captivated by this powerful story of resistance that is so relevant today,” Daniela Cölle, head of acquisitions at Pluto Film, said. “From the very first frame, the character of Seti captures the defiant spirit of Gen Z — a young woman battling silence, surveillance, and suppression with nothing but her voice and rage. Her fight for expression resonates far beyond borders.”

“The performance of Sarvin Zabetian as Seti keeps you breathless from the first moment she appears on screen,” Benjamin Cölle, co-managing director of Pluto Film, said. “With its exploration of hope, ambition, and the fight against oppression, this film is of uttermost political relevance and carries universal themes that will connect deeply with diverse audiences. Soheil Beiraghi’s masterful direction is engaging from beginning to end.”

Beiraghi said: “Pluto Film’s energy, motivation, and belief in ‘Bidad’ truly moved me. It feels good to see my one-person effort turning into a real team.”

Karlovy Vary’s jury commented about the film: “Mirroring the bravery it takes to make such a film in Iran, writer-director Soheil Beiraghi’s ‘Bidad’ is just as courageous in its constantly unexpected narrative turns, as it careens through different genre terrains as energetically as it rolls through the different suburbs of Tehran.

“Morphing from social-injustice thriller into family melodrama into a triumph over adversity arc, it is most striking as a gonzo lovers on the run romance, shot through with punk energy and spiky personality that ends on an ambivalent yet optimistic note — because where there’s this much life, there’s hope.”

Pluto Film’s line-up of global art cinema includes “Night Passengers” (Acid Cannes, 2025), “To Kill a Mongolian Horse” (Venice Days, 2024), and “Sima’s Song” (Tokyo, 2024).