Synopsis

A few years ago, during a journey to a beautiful and untouched place, I had a strange experience. Several sleepless nights pulled me into an unfamiliar world. It all started with strange sounds. Later, I began to see images that weren’t real. Even my sense of taste and smell had changed—food tasted unpleasant, and I sensed disturbing scents in the air. Threatening voices echoed in my mind, leading me to believe that I would soon be killed. The voices and images were sometimes terrifying, sometimes beautiful and deceptive. Later, I realized that what I had experienced was psychosis. The film Yo-Yo was born from this experience—a story about the mind in its strangest moments, where reality and imagination intertwine. Shadi and Siavash, the two main characters, are trapped in the heart of a beautiful and peaceful landscape, yet beneath this tranquility, violence flows. With curiosity, like a hunter, Shadi steps into Siavash’s mental world, following him closely, letting him exist freely—until the moment Siavash is ready to hunt her. As a child, a yo-yo was my favorite toy. I had a colorful yo-yo, and I would spend hours playing with it—watching it rise and fall, its repetitive motion calming me. Perhaps, amid all the suffering I endured during those months, the memory of playing with a yo-yo made me realize that even something as simple as a toy could bring peace. As a child, in a complex society, surrounded by the noise of religion, politics, and violence, I would sit in a corner, playing with my colorful yo-yo, finding solace in its rhythm. Yo Yo is a part of me. An attempt to capture an experience that is difficult to put into words—but one that I needed to express through this film.