16th Annual Festival of Films from Iran
The Gene Siskel Film Center presents the 16th edition of the Festival of Films from Iran, October 1 through November 2, the largest and longest-running showcase for Iranian cinema in the U.S. Twelve recent Iranian features screen, including the long-awaited KILLING MAD DOGS by Bahram Bayzai, a film unavailable internationally since its 2001 premiere in Iran.
Our special guest this year is Mahvash Sheikholeslami with her short documentary MURDER OR MURDERED, screening on the festival's opening weekend, October 1 and 2. A graduate of the London Film School, Sheikholeslami is an award-winning filmmaker whose work advocates for the rights of women. Her appearance at the Gene Siskel Film Center is presented in cooperation with the multi-media exhibition In Contention, depicting gender and women's struggles in traditional societies, a program of Chicago Artists' Month.
The mood of Iranian cinema is somber this year, with concerns over conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq emerging in fictional films including GILANEH, THE AFGHAN BRIDE, and THE RIVERSIDE. Spiritual and mid-life crises also hold the screen in films including WEEPING WILLOW by Oscar-nominated director Majid Majidi, PORTRAIT OF A LADY FAR AWAY, and SO CLOSE, SO FAR.
In addition to a varied and stellar line-up of Iranian features, we again offer the festival sidebar Films of the Iranian Diaspora, highlighting the international work of filmmakers of Iranian heritage. The documentary ZOHRE & MANOUCHEHR, screening October 22 and 23, provides a provocative look at sexuality and sexual mores in present-day Iran.
For a second year in a row, Chicago Public Radio is Media Sponsor of the Festival of Films from Iran. Advertising support sponsored in part by Time Out Chicago.
The Gene Siskel Film Center thanks the many individuals, companies and agencies in Iran and in the U.S. whose invaluable efforts, good will and support have made this year's festival possible. Special thanks to Farabi Cinema Foundation, an agency which promotes Iranian cinema around the world, and its international affairs director Amir Esfandiari and his staff, especially Reza Tashakori. Special thanks to Mohammad Atebbai of Aran Media & Art/Iranian Independents for advice and cooperation. Thanks to Alireza Shahrokhi, CIMA Media International; Katayoon Shahabi and Ziba Shahpoori, Sheherazad Media; Small Camera, Paris; and Robert Richter Sales and Distribution. For a second year in a row, Chicago Public Radio is Media Sponsor of the Festival of Films from Iran. Advertising support sponsored in part by Time Out Chicago.
The Festival of Films from Iran would not be possible without the vital interest and generous support of many friends including: Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa, Artistic Consultant, Amir Normandi, Community Affairs Consultant, Simin Hemmati-Rasmussen, Cultural Affairs Consultant, and Hossein Khandan, CinemaIran; Narimon Safavi of the Gene Siskel Film Center Advisory Committee; and Neda Nabavi. Special thanks to Caf� Suron.
-- Barbara Scharres
film descriptions
THE AFGHAN BRIDE
(ARUS-E AFGHAN)
2003, Abolqasem Talebi, Iran, 85 min.
With Hossein Yari, Golab Adineh
This tale of a village teacher forced to ransom his bride from her greedy father through years of manual labor in Pakistan is thoroughly bound up in the circumstances and tragedies of present-day Afghanistan, from Taliban oppression to American intervention. Director Talebi gives his film the rhythm and look of the streets, and an authentic, behind-the-scenes sense of the Afghan home. The story's shocking conclusion comprises an ironic and telling twist on current events from an Iranian perspective. In Persian and Urdu with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 15, 6:00 pm;
Sunday, October 16, 5:00 pm
GILANEH
2005, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Iran, 84 min.
With Fatemeh Motamed Arya, Baran Kosari
"The tale of an Iranian Mother Courage. . . a powerful reflection on the current war in Iraq."-- Deborah Young, Variety
Award-winning director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad (THE MAY LADY, THE BLUE-VEILED) directs her favorite actress, the great Fatemeh Motamed Arya, considered the Meryl Streep of Iran, in yet another tour-de-force performance of wrenching intensity. As the bombs fall on Tehran in the Iran-Iraq conflict, Gilaneh sees her adored only son off to war. Fifteen years later, as the first American bombs fall on Baghdad, she awaits the visit of a war widow she hopes will marry her darling, now an addled invalid. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 22, 8:00 pm;
Sunday, October 23, 3:00 pm
KILLING MAD DOGS
(SAGKOSHI)
2001, Bahram Bayzai, Iran/France, 135 min.
With Mozhdeh Shamsai, Majid Mozaffari
"It's just the sort of Iranian movie that never gets shown in the U.S."-- Jonathan Rosenbaum, Reader
"Overturning every stereotypical idea about Iranian women, Shamsai limns a tough, composed heroine with nerves of steel, able to face up to situations that would send Wonder Woman running for cover."-- Deborah Young, Variety
Following a premiere in the 2001 Fajr Film Festival in Tehran, where Mozhdeh Shamsai was awarded Best Actress by an international jury that included Chicago's own Jonathan Rosenbaum, KILLING MAD DOGS abruptly became unavailable until now. This atypical thriller by the director best known for BASHU, THE LITTLE STRANGER, fashions a fast-paced story of intrigue, betrayal, and deep, dark corruption. An angry wife returning to Tehran to confront her husband's infidelity finds him up to his neck in shady deals that now put his life in peril. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 8, 8:30 pm;
Sunday, October 9, 3:00 pm
NAVEL
(NAHF)
2004, Mohammad Shirvani, Iran, 83 min.
With Mana Rabiee, Ali Hooshmand
"NAVEL pushes the limits of Iranian cinema with its uncharacteristic style and taboo subject matter."-- Deborah Young, Variety
Along with directors including Mani Haghighi (ABADAN) and Bahman Kiarostami (MOURNERS), Mohammad Shirvani represents a new generation of Iranian filmmakers who take an avant-garde approach to storytelling, utilizing low-cost (and censorship-free) digital technology to their advantage. Five Tehran roommates, four single men and one Iranian-American woman, a taboo-breaking combination of itself, co-exist and interact, struggling with loneliness, sexual identity, and fear of the future. Shirvani uses the confined space and nocturnal atmosphere to effectively underline the constriction and uncertainty of his characters' lives. In Persian with English subtitles. DV-Cam video. (BS)
Monday, October 10, 6:15 pm;
Wednesday, October 12, 6:15 pm
A PIECE OF BREAD
(YEK TEKE NAN)
2005, Kamal Tabrizi, Iran, 90 min.
With Reza Kianian, Roya Nonhali
"Eerily moving. . . a mystical fable."
-- Deborah Young, Variety
The rumor of a marvel has curiosity-seekers and supplicants alike streaming to the remote shack of an old woman said to be gifted with the ability to work miracles after a visit to a mountain shrine. Accompanied by a simple-minded recruit and an elderly mullah, a bullying army officer is on his way too, charged with debunking the "miracle" and dispersing the crowds. When three mysterious strangers confront the wide-eyed young soldier at a spring, his unwilling trek becomes a mission. This new film by the director of last year's hit THE LIZARD won Best Director at the 2005 Fajr International Film Festival. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 29, 6:00 pm;
Sunday, October 30, 3:00 pm
PORTRAIT OF A LADY FAR AWAY
(SIMA-YE ZANI DAR DOORDAST)
2005, Ali Mossaffa, Iran, 98 min.
With Leila Hatami, Homayoun Ershadi
"An Iranian AFTER HOURS that detours into Tehran's contemporary art world."-- Dennis Lim, Village Voice
An anonymous call to the voicemail of a middle-aged architect begs him to intervene in a woman's suicide. Curiosity more than concern draws him to the address where he finds a young actress (the terrific Leila Hatami of DESERTED STATION), the would-be suicide's friend. Together they embark on an urgent search through Tehran by night, from hospital emergency room to a fortune-teller to a gallery where a disturbing performance piece is in progress. As they bond in the intimacy of the journey, the man begins to question his companion's identity, while the film increasingly questions his. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 1, 6:00 pm;
Sunday, October 2, 3:00 pm
THE RIVERSIDE
(KENAR-E ROODKHANEH)
2004, Ali Reza Amini, Iran, 85 min.
With Shadi Varvaei, Mohammad Javaheri
As a group of Kurdish refugees, including a wedding party, attempts to cross the Iranian border, the bride steps on a land mine. Unable to lift her foot and risk certain death, she is trapped. In a heart-pounding panic, her husband runs for help. Director Amini (LETTERS IN THE WIND) creates no standard save-the-maiden adventure here, but a timely poetic drama in which absurdity and futility increasingly play a part. Winner of the Don Quixote Award at the 2004 Karlovy Vary Film Festival. In Kurdish and Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Friday, October 28, 6:00 pm;
Wednesday, November 2, 8:00 pm
SO CLOSE, SO FAR
(KHEILI DOUR, KHEILI NAZDIK)
2005, Reza Mir-Karimi, Iran, 121 min.
With Masoud Raygan, Afshin Hashemi
The central characters of Mir-Karimi's last two features, the award-winning UNDER THE MOONLIGHT and HERE, A SHINING LIGHT, were each moved by a spirit under strange circumstances. In SO CLOSE, SO FAR, a wealthy and arrogant neurologist is forced to examine the meaning of his life when his teenaged son, whom he has long taken for granted, is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Accustomed to being in control, the doctor sets out to bend the future to his will, but a trek through the desert in pursuit of the boy puts him at the mercy of nature and the unseen hand of fate. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 8, 6:00 pm;
Sunday, October 9, 5:45 pm
Mahvash Sheikholeslami in person!
UNWANTED WOMAN
(ZAN-E ZIADI)
2005, Tahmineh Milani, Iran, 100 min.
With Merila Zareie, Amin Hayayi
MURDER OR MURDERED
2005, Mahvash Sheikholeslami, Iran, 26 min.
"It isn't hard to see the blows Milani is wielding in defense of women and their trampled rights."-- Deborah Young, Variety
A teacher who discovers her husband's affair in UNWANTED WOMAN calls his bluff by coming along on a "business trip" by car with the trampy young mistress. Discomfort escalates into crisis in this engaging melodrama when the wife becomes the willing hostage of a fugitive wanted for killing his wife and her lover. 35mm.
In the daring documentary MURDER OR MURDERED, screening after the feature, award-winning director Sheikholeslami enters an Iranian prison to create a portrait of six women on death row for the crime of killing their husbands. In low-key but profoundly revealing interviews, bitter stories of socially sanctioned enslavement and abuse reveal the women as sad victims of harsh tradition. In Persian with English subtitles. DV-CAM video. (BS)
Director Mahvash Sheikholeslami will be present for audience discussion at both screenings.
Saturday, October 1, 8:00 pm;
Sunday, October 2, 5:00 pm
WAKE UP, AREZOO!
(BIDAR SHOW, AREZOO!)
2005, Kianoush Ayari, Iran, 90 min.
With Behnaz Jafari, Mehran Rajabi
"Riveting, anguishing, moving. . . Kianoush Ayari and his crew began shooting just eleven days after the quake razed the town, using real rescue workers and earthquake victims as actors."-- Deborah Young, Variety
A story of redemption and hope takes shape in the ruins of Bam following the earthquake that destroyed the city on December 26, 2003. Two dazed victims (the only professional actors in the cast), a woman who appears to be the sole survivor of her village, and a convict expelled from his shattered prison cell desperate to find his mother and his wife, swallow their grief and join rescue efforts. Ayari's story never exploits the tragedy, but foregrounds compassion in unexpected ways. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 15, 8:00 pm;
Sunday, October 16, 3:00 pm
Due to circumstances beyond our control, WEEPING WILLOW (BEEDE-E MAJNOON) by Majid Majidi was withdrawn from availability after the October schedule went to press. The Gene Siskel Film Center regrets any inconvenience. The U.S. premiere of WE ARE ALL FINE replaces WEEPING WILLOW in our Festival of Films from Iran program.
U.S. premiere!
WE ARE ALL FINE
(MA HAMEH KHOUBIM)
2005, Bizhan Mirbaqeri, Iran, 90 min.
With Mohsen Ghazimorad, Leila Zare
The plaintive tale of a family abandoned by their émigré son, WE ARE ALL FINE is a beautifully nuanced film with a universal theme. After years of silence, son Jamshid communicates through a visiting friend that he wishes to receive a home video from his Tehran family. Racing to meet the visitor’s deadline, they rent a camera. Staged speeches and formal greetings soon give away to furtive recording sessions as mother, father, brother, sister, and deserted wife each commit a private message to tape. While the pleading, loving, angry, demanding messages add up to a video diary that is a concrete portrait of a family adrift, Jamshid seems ever more distant, and as ephemeral as a wisp of smoke. Co-winner of the Silver Leopard for First Feature at the 2005 Locarno Film Festival. Actress Leila Zare (the sister) won Best Supporting Actress at the 2005 Fajr Film Festival. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm.
Saturday, October 29, 8:00 pm
Sunday, October 30, 5:00 pm
Films of the Iranian Diaspora
ZOHRE & MANOUCHEHR
(TABOUS--ZOHRE & MANOUCHEHR)
2004, Mitra Farahani, France, 70 min.
With Coralie Revel, Soffiane Bennrezzak
In the myth-based prelude to Mitra Farahani's audacious documentary probe of Iranian sexuality past and present, Zohre, daughter of the moon and goddess of love, sets out to seduce the warrior Manouchehr. No topic is off limits as the director moves from ancient Persian eroticism to lusty discussions of virginity, infidelity, prostitution, temporary marriage, homosexuality, and trans-gender, with women in particular speaking their minds. Farahani ventures where no other filmmaker has dared to tread, providing an eye-opening look at the sex lives of Iranians since the Islamic revolution. In Persian with English subtitles. Beta SP video. (BS)
