Twenty kilometers outside of Tehran is the village of Khosro. There you will find a group of people, led by bricklayer Ail Matini, making 8mm movies in a primitive, yet innovative way. Defying government control, Mr. Matini has written 110 books and has made 18 films, distributing them within the premises of the surrounding villages.
In 1992, Mr. Matini and his group were arrested by government forces and sent to prison. Months later they were released on the condition that they make no more films, and the villagers were forced to sign documents saying that they would not associate with the filmmakers. Despite this, the group took the risk of making one more film so that their process could be documented by director Moslem Mansouri.
"Trial" was shown in May 2003 in the famous film festival of Robert De Niro - Tribeca - in New York and earned the documentary section prize and was praised by the festival's jury; Michael Moore. It was shown in the Channel 1 of the Swedish TV and won the prize of Movieeye/Kinoglaz in Tver, Russia in 2004.
