Joy Of Madness
Hana Makhmalbaf

David Haviland

Joy Of Madness is in some respects a remarkable film. It's by a 14-year-old Iranian girl, Hana Makhmalbaf, who may be the world's youngest film director.

It's a 'making of' documentary, detailing the casting process for her older sister Samira's film, the equally precocious Afghan drama At Five In The Afternoon. The film provides some compelling insights into the fear and distrust still prevalent in post-Taliban Afghanistan, where women still wear burkhas, and people are reluctant to be filmed. However judged on grown-up terms this is a sloppy film, with repetitive scenes and amateurish handheld camera-work.