The Apple

A disturbing real-life incident serves as the basis of this initially intriguing blend of documentary and fiction filmmaking from 18-year-old Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf. Not long ago, in the poor Tehran suburb of Valiasr, the residents of Hosseini Street sent a signed petition to Iranian Welfare Organization, alerting them to a horrendous situation: Two neighbors -- a deeply religious street peddler and his blind wife -- have kept their twin 12-year-old daughters prisoners inside their tiny house for their entire lives, locking them in behind iron gates and denying them all contact with the outside world. Social workers intervened and found the sisters -- M...