Shahrbanoo (2002)

Shahrbanoo is the story of an American woman's encounter and growing friendship with a traditional Muslim family living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Tehran, Iran. When Melissa, a liberal American woman, travels to Tehran to visit her new husband's family there, she befriends their housekeeper, Shahrbanoo. Without her own family's knowledge, Shahrbanoo has been moonlighting as Melissa's mother-in-law's housekeeper for more than a quarter of a century. Shahrbanoo invites Melissa - and her filmmaker husband, Hamid, with camera in tow - to a family gathering where she is treated to an intense cultural exchange involving subjects ranging from religion to relationships, from a woman's place in society to American foreign policy. At the center of the film, however, is the close relationship that develops between Melissa and Shahrbanoo. Their friendship transcends stereotypes and offers a heart-warming testimony to the hidden bonds that can bring people together in spite of vast cultural differences.