Leila Jhamshidpour is the main character and narrator of the 2023 independent film, the intergenerational comedy-drama The Persian Version, written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz.
The plot follows a few interlaced storylines. First, it follows Leila, an Iranian-American growing up between America and trips to Iran (her parents’ home country) and becoming pregnant from a one-night-stand on Halloween. We also follow along with Leila as her large family gathers around her father as he readies for a heart transplant, and the fission it brings up between Leila and her mother, Shireen (Niousha Noor). Finally, we learn a family secret: the real reason Shireen emigrated to the United States.
As a character and main narrator, Leila is entirely engaging: funny, smart, ambitious, witty, and relatable. As a writer and director, she makes for a great storyteller. She's not without faults and makes mistakes along the way. Leila highlights the pain and joy of having multiple intersectional identities, struggling to find acceptance and her place in both American and Iranian communities while exploring different ways to express herself.
Regarding her queerness, Leila has been married to and divorced from a woman, Elena (Mia Foo). She often calls herself gay and a lesbian throughout the narrative, but also clearly displays attraction towards the father of her child, Max (Tom Byrne), during their one-night stand. As the pregnancy progresses, Leila also agrees to go on some dates with Max and clearly shows attraction to him during these times as well. It is also important to note that writer/director Keshavarz heavily based the stories, characters, and life events of Leila and Shireen on herself and her mother — and Keshavarz is bi.
While Leila ultimately does not use the term “bi” to describe herself, we do see clear evidence of her attraction to both sexes throughout The Persian Version. Leila is, in the end, a vibrant and much-needed dose of representation on the big screen.