A Good Day Will Come

Released 2024. Director: Amir Zargara

IN 2018, ANGRY IRANIANS TOOK TO THE STREETS across the country protesting against government corruption, rising food prices, inflation and widespread unemployment. In the waves of mass protests over months, police clashed with protesters and lives were lost in bursts of violence.

Set in those turbulent times, A Good Day Will Come is a 26-minute short film dedicated to the memory of Navid Afkari, whose arrest and execution after a wrongful conviction inspired the film.

The protagonist of the film is named Arash, a wrestler aspiring to win an Olympic gold medal and make his country proud. When he’s not in training, Arash works as a labourer for meagre daily wage. Around him, young people are swept up in social unrests as economic despair grips the nation. Arash feels his conscience stirred by the adversity he sees.

His coach, jaded with cynicism having lived through two regimes, tells the men to keep their heads down to stay out of trouble. This is where director Amir Zargara lays out plainly the path of his narrative by placing Arash at a crossroads. He could stay silent, endure the hardship and be safe, or stand up for injustice and risk dire consequences.

Through a few simple yet effective scenes Zargara establishes Arash’s personal motivations. When Arash cautiously uses his position as a wrestling champ to speak up at a press conference, we know he’s heading towards an inevitable outcome. At a medal ceremony, Arash wears a t-shirt honouring the memory of his cousin Mitra who died at a protest. His public display of solidarity with the struggling masses attracts the attention of the regime.

Throughout his participation in the peaceful protests, Arash is non-violent in his approach. We see him thoughtfully defuse tension between armed military and masked men ready to throw Molotov cocktails. The authorities, however, is ready to make an example out of him. One morning, Arash is forcibly arrested outside his home. He is tortured into confessing to a crime he did not commit and executed.

Sia Alipour, who has a background in taekwondo and martial arts, is perfectly cast as Arash. The actor not only possesses the physical build of an athlete but equally crucial, Alipour’s understated performance subtly communicates his character’s ideals and struggles. Arash’s broad shoulders droop ever so slightly, as if weighed down by his inner conflicts. He also has the saddest eyes of any sports champion because he understands his victory rings hollow against the plight of his people.

Jelan Maxwell’s cinematography uses muted colours to accentuate the dreariness in the day-to-day living. The compositions are simple yet cinematic. The score by KB, on the other hand, is mournful and a touch insistent.

Amir Zargara, who also wrote and produced the film, is an Iranian living in Canada. His personal experiences as an immigrant informs his filmmaking themes. When I asked Zargara if filmmaking was a form of activism for him, he likened making this film to a duty comparable to mandatory military service in Iran. “As a citizen and filmmaker in Canada,” Zargara said, “I’ve gained privileges that people in my home country don’t have, yet they still find the courage to speak out. So, I had to ask myself: what was my excuse?”

A Good Day Will Come is about taking a stand and be heard. It is Zargara’s way to lend his voice to the oppressed masses in his country of birth. More than a tribute to Navid Afkari, the film is a statement of belief in the power of change. The film itself is a protest, but it doesn’t shout. There’s anger and anguish, but it’s mellow and measured. And now that the film has qualified to compete in the 2025 Oscars, the message of hope will only get stronger and go further.

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