No Land’s Song (Iran/France/Germany)  

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, solo female singing was banned outright. Imagine the guts it takes composer Sara Najafi to try to stage a concert of women’s voices there.

This doc weaves it all together like a fine gabbeh: her hard-nosed negotiations with censors and religious scholars (watch one try to explain why women’s music is more arousing than men’s) combine with fascinating archival footage of early-20th-century performers, plus scenes of the French–Middle Eastern team of instrumentalists and singers who, impossibly, manage to pull this off.

Ethereal sounds, inspiring determination, and proof that art can transcend even the most oppressive regime.