After a 17-year exile from Iran, director Nahid Persson returns to her hometown, Tehran, to document the burgeoning business of prostitution. The film follows two young prostitutes, Fariba and Minna, who have resorted to selling their bodies as a way of supporting their incarcerated husbands, their respective children and their acquired drug addictions. 24-year-old Fariba engages in ‘Sighe’ with her neighbor Habib, a 65-year old man who lives with his wife of 40 years, children, and grandchildren. ‘Sighe’ is a temporary marriage under Muslim law (anywhere from 2 hours to 99 years) that circumvents the laws against buying sex. After she consents to a 6-month period of ‘Sighe’ with Habib, Fariba is under his constant supervision and control. Likewise, prostitution proves dangerous for Minna, as she is subject to physical violence from her customers. Whether they either seek out customers in the street or contract ‘Sighe’ with customers, business is risky.
 Prostitution behind the Veil casts light on the contradiction between the strictures of Islam and the deepening, widespread social corruption in post-revolution Iran. Persson reveals the harsh lives of women who are otherwise unseen victims of this conflict, women who are effortlessly bought and sold in this solemn patriarchal society. (Kim Gyung-mi)