Instead of Conclusion: Diasporic Indeterminacies

All the films examined in Cinematic homelands end on a promising yet uncertain note, concluding in an open-ended form with their female protagonists on the brink of new, independent futures. Women Without Men concludes with Munis shown again suspended in the air, reliving the metaphorical and liberating moment of her suicide, while the once fearful, traditional Faezeh confidently walks out of the Garden into the unknown. In Red Rose, Sara disappears along with the Green Movement itself and its immense potentiality. At the end of Circumstance, Atafeh decides to emigrate from Iran, and we see her in a taxi leaving Tehran and her family behind in search of a new life abroad. Likewise, in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the Girl leaves Bad City with Arash and the cat, vanishing into the dark in his car. Finally, Appropriate Behaviour ends with Shirin and her friend on the subway, coming to terms with her break-up and stating she will “come out” to her mother again after a month. Therefore, the female protagonists are shown as active agents of change, mobile and in transit, yet unsure of what will come. The films’ lack of closure leaves us puzzled about the women’s future and whether or not their empowerment and feminist consciousness will last. All of the questions raised around female subjectivity, sexuality and gendered practices – linked to women’s agency, freedom and choice – are re-expressed in the films’ open-endings. Such conclusions also reassert the films’ investment in ambiguity and uncertainty, defying efforts to easily anchor them within a singular geopolitical locality.