Documenting the endless struggles of a group of female wrestlers in a strictly patriarchal and religious society, One Thousand Women follows these young women’s journey in sport, tackling overwhelming obstacles to find their space in the exclusively masculine realm of wrestling in Iran.

With a long list of limitations and restrictions imposed on them by the Iranian authorities, such as a strict Islamic dress code and a ban on wrestling with Israeli athletes, the head of the federation resigns in protest, leaving the female wrestlers alone in their quest.

Directed by one of the brightest voices of Iranian documentary film, imprisoned by the Iranian regime in October 2022 during the uprisings in Iran, One Thousand Women is a powerful group portrait of some exceptionally strong women engaged in a never-ending fight for equal opportunities.

Born in 1971 in Tehran, Mojgan Ilanlou received her BA in history and MA in arts from the University of Tehran. She has been an active member of the documentary scene in Iran with a long list of documentaries on sensitive social topics such as the Iran-Iraq war, the life of clerics in the country, the life of Afghan immigrants in Iran and the position of women in Iranian society.

She has received numerous awards for her relentless efforts to shed light on the hardships of life for women and immigrants in Iran as well as for her portraits of contemporary religious and political figures inside the country.

Mojgan Ilanlou was arrested and imprisoned in October 2022 for her open support of the revolutionary uprisings in Iran.