In Starless Dreams, acclaimed filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei takes us inside a girls’ juvenile detention facility on the outskirts of Tehran. The bonds the girls share are as tight as blood – some feel more at home here than they ever did with their families. Their crimes include drug dealing and murder, yet instead of cold-blooded criminals we discover friendly, young people who laugh, sing, and cry together. With the conceptual rigour and emotional directness associated with the best of Iranian cinema, Oskouei presents an intimate and respectful portrait of these young women, offering a powerful indictment of social apathy.