Original subtitles

"SECRET BALLOT"

Wake up! It "s your turn.

What is that box?

Today"s election day. We have orders to keep an eye on the box.

You mean l"ll have to collect votes?

No, there"s an agent coming at 8 AM.

You"re supposed to escort the agent.

It "s 8:15 now. Where"s the guy?

Nothing happens on time. If they say he"ll come, he"ll come.

What about the smugglers?

Those who sent the order know what "s best.

Let me sleep. Do your rounds.

Be here at 5 PM sharp! We won"t wait for you!

Good morning. Are you on duty?

Nice to meet you.

I came for the election.

Great, the box"s already here.

What time is it?

Look.

This is how it works. We have to follow the map.

We will collect ballots from isolated areas.

The inhabitants won"t come here to vote.

From here, we"ll go to all the areas marked on the map...

and we"ll collect the ballots in this ballot box.

I have to be back here at 5 PM.

The ballot goes in here...

and we stamp their papers.

That "s how the officials are elected. Let "s start by me.

I have to vote, you, everybody. So we choose who will sit there.

On the ballot, l"ll write down the name of my candidate.

I fold it and I put it in the box.

Then, my papers are stamped.

- Did you understand? - Who sent you here?

L"m responsible for collecting the ballots. I have orders.

Here says l"m in charge of the election on the island.

- Don"t permit any frauds. - That order is not good.

It says an agent will come, not a woman. That "s not normal.

The sex of the agent is not specified.

- And I am an agent. - That order is not good.

I was appointed by your superiors.

Don"t argue with me. Your duty is to escort me.

I decide things around here. They should have sent a man.

An order is an order. This is your responsibility.

If you don"t want to be a soldier forever...

give me your papers.

- I haven"t got them. - Why not?

They"re under the mattress on the bed where my comrade"s sleeping.

You"ll vote later. We have to go. Where"s the car?

A woman... that "s all I needed now.

What time is it?

- 8:3O. - It "s late.

- Miss, I have a question. - What?

Who"s got to vote?

Nobody"s got to vote. They vote if they wish to do so.

They don"t have to.

It isn"t obligatory.

But they"d better vote.

To have a better life. For the greater good.

- So anyone can vote? - Sure.

As long as they"re citizens...

and of legal age.

Even the smugglers can vote?

Everybody can.

Every citizen has got rights.

Even smugglers.

If those bastards vote, l"m going to lose my job.

That "s irrelevant.

The election process helps countries to improve.

- Look! There"s someone there! Go! - Where?

Over there. He"s running. Let "s ask him to vote.

Why are you running?

Must be a thief!

- How do you know? - Because he"s running!

Maybe he"s afraid of the Army jeep.

He"s got no reason to be afraid!

I would be afraid if the Army came after me.

Drive faster.

Go that way.

The poor man"s still running.

Let "s calm him down.

- And let "s take his vote. - What "s the use?

- Why were you running away? - I wasn"t running away.

Why did you run away from me?

- Empty your pockets! - No! Do not touch me!

Let him catch his breath!

- He"s a smuggler! - How can you be so sure?

Stirring people up on an election day! L"m sorry.

- Tell him to put the gun away. - All right. Put away that gun!

- What "s my crime? - No crime at all. I apologize, sir.

- Your running was misinterpreted. - Running is a crime now?

The gun doesn"t mean anything. We"re here because of the election.

He"s only doing his duty.

Election? In the desert? With guns?

You"ve got the same rights as anyone else.

Do you use guns to make people vote?

It was a misunderstanding.

Let me explain.

- Do you have your ID with you? - Yes.

Follow me.

This is the candidate list.

Write down your two choices.

Pen, please.

He didn"t even look at the list!

He"s bluffing!

If that man keeps butting in, I won"t vote!

- This is outrageous! - Leave him alone!

It "s a secret ballot!

I want to vote freely, without you two interfering!

You"re right, but that"s his job.

- Interfering? - I won"t allow that.

Look the other way. Leave him alone to vote.

You can write it down.

- Hide behind the box, if you wish. - No, it "s all right.

I just don"t want him to interfere. I want to vote my own way.

You"re right. Go on.

Don"t forget to give me back my ID. It "s useful even here.

It "s a good thing you never lost it.

Thank you. Here you go.

I don"t understand. Why send an armed soldier on election day?

The uniform, the gun, the jeep...

you"re ruining everything!

Those thugs won"t hear you without this gun!

And you think that chasing a poor man...

with your jeep and your gun is a good way to control crime?

Everything has a solution. The law should deal with crime.

And the law is in this box.

This is what I get for leaving my place. Following you!

The thieves must be having a field day!

L"d be better off without you.

The gun scares people away and sparkles conflict.

People need to be calm for the election.

Voting encourages discussion.

Guns just shut people up!

- Can you drive? - What?

Can you drive?

I didn"t know women were allowed to drive here.

What are you doing?

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

Leave me alone, miss!

Mind your own business and l"ll mind mine!

You won"t survive ten minutes without my gun!

You"re just hiding behind it!

The Lord knows what you intend to do with that box of yours!

Do you know what happens to those who don"t follow the orders?

That gun won"t help you.

You were ordered to stay with me until 5 PM.

You saw the order.

I didn"t see anything!

The only thing I saw was a box that fell from the sky...

and ruined my day!

What?

I can"t hear you!

- Is this the place where you vote? - Yes.

I didn"t see you at the guards" outpost.

- Been looking for you everywhere. - Did you came to vote?

- L"ve got 3O voters with me. - Where from?

From an island nearby. I brought all of them.

- In the truck? - That "s right.

- Where are they? - L"ll call them.

They"ve all brought their papers.

Bring them here.

Come here! Hurry!

Form a line here.

Give me the ballots.

- They have to write themselves. - But they can"t write!

He could...

They can"t speak to him, their husbands would go berserk!

- What about you? - Well, they know me.

Give me their papers.

So you"ll write your choice on their votes?

L"d never do that! They"re supposed to choose two names from the list.

Impossible! They"re under my care.

L"ll write on the ballots.

Voting isn"t a group activity.

They don"t know anything! I know who they"re supposed to vote for!

What are you saying? They have to choose by themselves.

- I choose for them. - Everyone will vote individually.

If you think you know so much, you can vote for yourself.

- What about them? - No, the rules are strict.

Is everyone there? Anybody missing?

Hurry. Hold it.

Ladies. Anyone has ever voted before?

No problem. L"ll explain.

- Can you write? - No.

- What about you? - Yes.

Great. Come on.

This is the list of ten candidates.

I will call your names one by one.

You will fill in the ballot. She will help you.

Then you put the ballot in the box, do you understand?

Tahereh Zareii.

Who is she? Is she there?

No, sweetheart, you"re still too young to vote.

She says the girl is 12 years old. Why can"t she vote?

Because she has to be at least 16.

She can get married at 12, but she can"t vote?

It "s the law. She must be 16.

It "s not up to me.

Sakineh Yekshanbezadeh.

It "s you? Come here, please.

Take the ballots, one by one. Come closer.

Here are the ballots. Write quickly.

Closer. Take the ballot.

Is anyone still without a ballot? Come forward.

L"ll say when you can put the ballot in the box.

This place is not on the map.

Let "s go anyway. They"re voters.

They"re just fishermen. Wait here, l"ll go.

They"re not from around here. They"re just mending their nets.

- They haven"t got papers. - How is that possible?

That boat over there crossed the border.

Let "s go there.

- How can we go there? - On one of their boats.

They won"t lend us one.

Nothing is impossible.

Stop!

What did you do? Why did you shoot?

He didn"t obey the order to stop. Smuggler!

How can you tell from so far away?

He would have stopped if he weren"t a smuggler!

You know what could happen if they knew you fired?

I told him to stop. What else could I do?

But people should feel free during an election.

Without bullets, the criminals won"t leave us alone!

That "s the only thing they respect!

Too bad. We lost a vote.

Why would a woman flee to another country to marry a foreigner?

Haven"t we got men right here?

It "s all right. Don"t worry.

Where do you live?

Are you from around here?

Tell me where you live. We can take you home.

- L"m from Moshri. - From Moshri?

Thank you. Bless you.

But you"d better stop for a while to vote.

You can"t eat votes. One day less fishing...

- We"ll wait in the car. - Are you the election agent?

In the last election, we were left out.

- We traveled together to vote. - Why go to so much trouble?

To make sure. We come from far away.

L"ll prepare the ballots and the list of candidates.

- We know who we want to vote for. - This is the approved list.

Our candidates are not on the list.

What is this?

We didn"t come from so far away to vote for these ones?

Is this list legitimate?

- Are all the candidates listed here? - That "s the approved list.

- Papers. I need to stamp them. - We won"t vote for these!

We want our candidates.

- Who are these? - Never heard of them!

What about ours?

- It "s a secret ballot. - We"ll vote the way we want.

- How old are you? - 16.

Then she can vote.

She"s already got enough problems.

I thought voting was the answer.

Voting can"t solve every problem.

She could vote for somebody...

who would prevent our women from marrying strangers.

Or for somebody who would allow her to choose her husband.

Not now. You"ll vote when we arrive at your house.

- They don"t want me. - What?

She could vote on behalf of her sweetheart.

My family doesn"t vote.

You will be able to vote, and your family too.

We"ll take care of that when we get there.

Think about the scandal when we arrive.

Her family, her brothers... it will be a bloodbath.

They"ll think she was rejected by the man.

What is that man doing here?

The soldier is with me. We came because of the election.

He has to go away. A woman is giving birth to a child.

- He has to go. - He will not do any harm.

We came to collect votes.

You just have to choose two names.

Our men aren"t here.

But we are here. You may vote.

- Not without permission. - There"s no need for that.

Everybody votes independently.

Choose two names. That "s all it takes.

Hi.

We came because of the election.

If you can"t read, I have pictures of the candidates.

Look. You just have to choose two and write down their names.

Look.

What happened? What did she say?

We can"t look at pictures of men we don"t know.

A child has just been born.

Here?

I want to see it.

What happened? Where did she go?

Don"t you see there"s a lady from the town here?

Cover yourself.

- Hi. - Good morning.

How many families live here?

I don"t know. There aren"t too many.

- Are you thirsty? - Yes, thank you.

You forgot the ballot box.

It can stay there. L"ll just collect the ballots.

- Who is the owner here? - He"s called Naneh Baghoo.

- Where is he? - He never leaves the house.

- Can we talk to him? - He"s always at the farm.

- Here? - Yes.

You better take the box. It won"t be easy to make them vote.

You"ll be lucky if they let you come near the door.

The ballot box must be carried by the agent.

Otherwise, the votes will be cancelled.

- Go away, soldier! - Hi.

What "s he doing here? Go away!

Back off. L"ll manage by myself.

Please, mister...

...who is the owner here? - Naneh Baghoo.

Naneh Baghoo? I have to talk to him.

I came to collect votes.

Tell Naneh Baghoo...

that I need to speak with him. With the election...

you may get treated water here.

Things will get better. We will be able to help you.

Please, ask him to talk to me.

Tell him l"ll explain everything.

If everybody votes, your herd will improve.

There will be less diseases.

- Do you understand? - No.

I don"t speak Farsi.

Let "s hurry up. The next stop is very far away.

Come pour water so I can wash my hands.

- Do you want soap? - Thank you. Did they vote?

How did you manage to make those workers vote?

I convinced them.

- Water? - Yes, thank you.

Of course, a gun is capable of many things.

Even if it has to be with blank ballots, you will fill that box.

Naneh Baghoo sent food.

Thanks. Did he send it personally?

Wait.

Where is the young man who was here?

- I don"t know. - What do you want with him?

He could help us talk with these people.

- Lf we stop to eat. - Do you want water?

We don"t have time to eat.

They will take offense.

L"m hungry now that I saw the food.

I thought you wouldn"t eat all day long.

We shouldn"t, but homemade food is an exception.

You still didn"t tell me if you got their votes.

Naneh Baghoo doesn"t need to vote.

You"ve been on all day...

about how important it is to vote. Will you give up now?

Of course voting is important...

but Naneh Baghoo has his own government here.

He doesn"t need representatives.

Wait, wait!

What seems to be the problem?

It hasn"t been used for a long time.

Today was too much for it. That "s the problem.

Try again.

Stop!

- Let "s push it. - It won"t be any good.

Did it break down?

Help me here.

- Are you the election agent? - Yes, why?

Some people came looking for you.

- Why didn"t you tell me before? - I didn"t know you were a woman.

- I thought the agent was a man. - Where are they now?

I don"t know. Naneh Baghoo gave them water and sent them away.

- Do you know where they went? - No, but they showed me a place.

I can take you there.

Wait!

- How far is it? - It "s right there!

What about the jeep?

It "s all right. Let "s take a look.

- Is it much farther? - No, we"re here.

- Who were they? - I don"t know.

- Fishermen? - We"re here.

They told you to show me that?

- What "s that? - I don"t know.

- Help me move it. - I need to go back.

- What "s written on it? - What is it?

I don"t know. I have to go, my herd is loose.

God knows what you expect to find.

Help me move this stone.

- There"s an inscription. - I want to look underneath it.

- What "s written there? - "Dear election agent...

our votes are under this stone."

It has today"s date.

Turn it up. Let "s see what"s under it.

That stone?

If you find votes there, will you put them in the box?

L"m curious to see whether there"s anything there.

Even without identification?

It "s important to know whether they left votes there.

But where are they?

- Forget it. L"ll do it. - Leave that to me. Get back.

Seeing anything?

Nothing!

- Any inscriptions? - It "s on the other side.

There must be something.

- There"s another inscription. - Read it.

Come see.

"Dear election agent...

our votes are under this stone."

It was written four years ago.

Step on it. It "s late. If we don"t arrive on time...

I will miss the boat and the votes will not be polled.

We went around the whole island.

Half the places weren"t even on the map.

What are these votes for?

Look! It "s some kind of camp site.

Let "s see.

Why don"t you turn in the votes you already have?

Forget this place.

We looked everywhere...

even under rocks, to find votes.

It "s on our way. Let "s have a look.

There"s nobody there. Before I came to this island...

those same politicians you"re collecting votes for...

promised to do something here.

They disappeared, along with their projects.

Anybody here?

Hello.

Welcome.

Hi, how are you doing?

Are you the guardian here?

No, I am the guide. This is a solar energy plant.

That "s the solar kettle.

Let "s make some tea before the sun boils up too much.

Today"s election day. I came to collect votes.

I have here a list of ten candidates.

Choose two names, then fill in the ballot.

This is the ballot. I stamp your papers...

and you drop your ballot in the box.

Listen, miss, I wouldn"t know who to vote for.

- I can talk about the candidates. - This is a solar cell unit.

It captures the energy from the sun.

The energy is stored in batteries.

It supplies electricity here...

and lights up the place by night.

- Pardon me, but... - l"m just checking...

...to see if it "s working. - Pardon me, but I only have till 5.

Give me two minutes to explain, then you can vote.

But I don"t know these people.

L"ll explain everything. Give me your papers.

They"re in the cabin. Son, can you fetch them for me?

- Where are they? - Inside a bag, under the bed.

I don"t know anyone, except God Almighty.

If I vote, l"d have to vote for God.

God instruct us to participate in the elections.

Where is that written? I never saw that.

We should choose our destiny.

Destiny? God decides each one of our destinies.

Those candidates can"t even decide our destinies.

Hurry up with the papers.

The candidates know the conditions around here.

They understand your problems. They can make a difference.

If you vote, you"ll be able to plan your life better.

Listen up, dear.

See the sun? It never changed.

And God will exist forever.

The people on your list can"t even decide their own destinies.

It "s getting late. This way I won"t make it on time.

Come on, write two names.

- Can you do that for me? - The lady can do it.

- No! I vote for God. - But God is not a candidate.

God is my candidate.

What happened? Why did you stop?

The light is red.

See? We"re in the middle of nowhere! There aren"t any cars!

I can"t break the law.

But we"re in a desert. The law doesn"t mean anything.

See?

L"ll walk around here. Nothing is going to happen.

It "s getting late. We"ve got to go!

You spoke about law all day long...

and now, lo and behold, you want to break it?

What law?

We"re in the desert. No cars cross this road!

I can"t break the law.

The law doesn"t mean anything here. This thing is a mistake.

It wasn"t supposed to be there.

But you"re seeing that the light is red.

You punched the red light.

I thought they fixed it...

but that traffic light "s still broken.

There"s nobody here.

- Hi. - Good afternoon.

And to you too.

Where is everybody?

I didn"t see anyone today.

Today"s election day and I am collecting votes.

Do you have your papers with you?

I have.

L"ll show them to you if you buy something.

But I don"t need anything.

Then I don"t need to vote.

What should I buy?

Buy something and then l"ll show you my papers.

All right. I want that blonde doll.

But you are a foreigner!

Only local citizens are allowed to vote.

You just asked for my papers. There they are.

Everyone votes in their own country. You can vote in yours.

What is it?

The other kids don"t want to play with me.

What are they playing at?

Hide-and-seek.

- What? - They"re playing hide-and-seek.

L"m not from around here.

L"ve got something for you.

This way you can play by yourself.

- Where"s your mom? - In the graveyard.

I am an orphan too.

Do you like it?

Do you?

Did she die a long time ago?

She just went to visit my father"s grave.

- In the graveyard? - Yes.

My condolences.

Hi, my condolences.

Today"s election day. I came to collect...

Women aren"t allowed to come here.

This is off limits for women.

I won"t interfere in the ceremony. But since you"re all gathered...

l"d like to collect your votes.

We aren"t allowed to vote here. We don"t need to do that.

Have you ever participated in an election before?

Do you think that way too?

- Lf you and I... - What you want...

is more important to you than to ourselves.

That "s not true.

The important thing is choosing...

someone who will understand your problems.

What do you know about us...

and our problems?

We can"t express our feelings here.

How"s that? Don"t you want...

others to hear your opinion?

Of course I want. But can one vote make a difference?

Little by little. It cannot happen all of a sudden.

We don"t even have a right to be here.

I have to go. My daughter is waiting for me.

May I ask you a question?

What?

When"s the next election?

Four years from now. Elections happen once every four years.

Not before that?

What do you mean?

Why not do 3 or 4 elections a year?

Too late. I missed the boat.

But we are on time.

They will come.

How could they not? We agreed on that.

Whenever anything happens on time around here?

They will come.

Didn"t I take your vote?

Pen.

And a ballot.

- What for? - To vote. Don"t you want to vote?

The list of candidates. You probably know it by heart by now.

Here.

But...

l"m not a candidate.

I thought this was supposed to be a secret ballot.

Then you probably know how the election works.

You choose two names...

of people you know, and you write them down.

But I only know you. No one else.

You can"t vote for anybody.

Look! It "s your comrade.

Maybe he knows.

Ask him about the boat.

What is that plane doing here?

They must have come for you!

- Do you want it? - No, thanks.

Give me the watch.

Leave it to mee, l"ll keep watch.

- But it "s my turn. - L"m not tired.

- But you walked around all day long. - I can"t sleep.

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