Meezan (Scale) // Doc Turtleneck

Set in south-western Iran, Meezan is an observational and immersive journey from the sea to the land, about labor at the margins.

Shahab Mihandoust, 2023, 72 mins

Returning to Kansas City after its standout appearance at the 2024 Kansas City Underground Film Festival

Set along the waterways of Khuzestan, the southwestern Iranian province bordering Iraq, Meezan is an immersive journey from sea to land, tracing labor at the margins of petro-capitalism across three quietly devastating chapters.

Departing from the shores of Abadan, the first oil company-town in the Middle East, the film follows Arab fishermen navigating the tension between intergenerational tradition and an industrialized world that encroaches upon it. It concludes in a shrimp processing plant on Abadan's outskirts, where women bused in from surrounding villages work in a furious, relentless race for wages.

A winner of the RIDM 2023 New Vision Award, Meezan is a work of pure observation. It arrives in Kansas City at a moment when its portrait of Iranian life feels more urgent than ever.

About Doc Turtleneck

Doc Turtleneck is a screening series dedicated to non-fiction films that challenge traditional notions of truth. While documentaries are often seen as arbiters of reality, this series emphasizes that "truth" in cinema is always shaped by perspective and interpretation.

The films showcased in Doc Turtleneck embrace this complexity, blending innovation and introspection to explore how stories are told and how meaning is made. Whether through the filmmaker’s presence, experimental structures, or evocative imagery, these works champion a nuanced approach to non-fiction, inviting audiences to question, reflect, and engage with the many layers of reality.