19th Annual Festival of Films from Iran
The Gene Siskel Film Center welcomes you to the 19th Annual Festival of Films from Iran, October 4 through November 2. This year’s festival presents new films by renowned and seasoned directors including Reza Mir-Karimi (AS SIMPLE AS THAT), Rassul Sadr-Ameli (THE NIGHT and EVERY NIGHT, LONELINESS), and Manijeh Hekmat (3 WOMEN), as well as introducing the work of newcomers.
Through the sponsorship of Pasfarda Arts & Cultural Exchange, two weekends feature filmmaker personal appearances: award-winning director Dariush Mehrjui with screenings of HAMOON on October 25 and 26 in tribute to one of Iran’s great actors, the late and much-beloved star Khosro Shakibai; and Mohammad Shirvani and Sara Parto on October 18 and 19 with the world premiere of 7 BLIND WOMEN FILMMAKERS.
Engaging stories abound, from highly contemporary narratives like OVER THERE, involving pursuit of a green card, and LOOSE ROPE, following the quest of two guys and a failing pick-up truck, to GREEN FIRE’s dreamlike story rooted in Persian mythology and the poetry of Rumi. In the comedy THE BANANA SKIN, destiny stops a workaholic in his tracks with a slip on a metaphorical peel. Stars Khosro Shakibai and Ezzatollah Entezami work together for the last time in THE NIGHT, a poignant story that plays out most effectively amid the sacred sites and tourist sights of the city of Mashad.
A woman’s sensibility is front and center in 3 WOMEN, starring Niki Karimi, in award-winning AS SIMPLE AS THAT, starring Hengameh Ghaziani, and in EVERY NIGHT, LONELINESS, starring Leila Hatami. The first film of its kind made anywhere, 7 BLIND WOMEN FILMMAKERS presents short films by women who, under the guidance of filmmaker Mohammad Shirvani, have overcome disability to record their world as they know it. Claus Strigel’s documentary MOON SUN FLOWER GAME: A TRUE FAIRYTALE, traces the childhood saga of the adopted son of charismatic poet Forough Farrokhzad.
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 Tashakkori. Special thanks to Mohammad Atebbai of Iranian Independents for advice and cooperation. Thanks to Alireza Shahrokhi and Ali Haji Ghasemi, CIMA Media International; Katayoon Shahabi, Sheherazad Media International; Maryam Naghibi, Soureh Cinema; Faramarz Farazmand, MehrFaraz Film Production; and Claus Strigel, Denkmal Film.
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; Hossein Khandan, CinemaIran; Mohammad Pakshir; Hamid Naficy; Ahmad Sadri; Narimon Safavi; Pasfarda Arts & Cultural Exchange; Marian Luntz, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Zoe Elton, Mill Valley Film Festival; Bo Smith, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Setareh List.
--Barbara Scharres
Dariush Mehrjui in person!
Tribute to Khosro Shakibai!
HAMOON
1990, Dariush Mehrjui, Iran, 120 min.
With Khosro Shakibai, Bita Farahi
In 1990, award-winning director Mehrjui (THE COW, THE TENANTS) cast the relatively unknown actor Khosro Shakibai in HAMOON and made him a star. The versatile actor, who could be considered the Robert De Niro of Iran, brought trademark charisma to the role of the title character, a self-centered intellectual escaping his artist-wife’s demand for a divorce through Fellini-esque flights of fancy. HAMOON aptly illustrated an Iran caught between ancient tradition and modernity, and the film swept that year’s Iranian film awards. Mehrjui continued to work with Shakibai, casting him in five more films over the years, including THE LADY and THE MIX. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Dariush Mehrjui will be present at both screenings to discuss his work and to speak in tribute to the career of the late actor Khosro Shakibai. His appearance is made possible through the sponsorship of Pasfarda Arts & Cultural Exchange.
Saturday, October 25, 8:00 pm
Sunday, October 26, 5:00 pm
AS SIMPLE AS THAT
(BE HAMIN SADEGI)
2008, Reza Mir-Karimi, Iran, 97 min.
With Hengameh Ghaziani, Mehran Kashani
The director of award-winning films including THE CHILD AND THE SOLDIER and UNDER THE MOONLIGHT brings sensitivity, wry humor and pathos to this chronicle of one day in the life of a harried urban wife and mother. Tahareh (Ghaziani in a beautifully subtle performance) hides the sad secret of her failing marriage while her two kids and the neighbors prey upon her as their go-to lady for every need. Director Mir-Karimi finds wondrous meaning in small things, including a purloined cake, a box of baby chicks, and a glimpse of the kids playing dress-up. Winner of Best Film at the 2008 Moscow Fillm Festival. In Persian with English subtitles. Beta SP video. (BS)
Saturday, October 4, 8:15 pm
Sunday, October 5, 5:00 pm
THE BANANA SKIN
(POOST-E MOZ)
2008, Ali Atshani, Iran, 89 min.
With Hamid Farokhnezhad, Behnoush Tabatabai
This comedy takes an engagingly light approach to death and the afterlife. Workaholic Hamid has everything the yuppie lifestyle requires, and no time to enjoy it until a freak accident delivers him at death’s door. Welcomed by the ghosts of his just-deceased uncle and another accident victim, Hamid discovers that being footloose in the city as a prankish spirit isn’t such a bad deal after all. The plot thickens when a pretty lady ghost comes on the scene and his uncle ponders matchmaking protocol in the great beyond. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, November 1, 6:15 pm
Sunday, November 2, 3:00 pm
EVERY NIGHT, LONELINESS
(HAR SHAB, TANHAII)
2008, Rassul Sadr-Ameli, Iran, 90 min.
With Leila Hatami, Hamed Behdad
Atieh (Hatami), a radio talk-show host famed for her on-air relationship advice, travels on pilgrimage with her husband to the holy city of Mashad. Her unspoken quest may be as simple as something to fill the gaping hole in their marriage or as complex as a miracle. A foray alone into the teeming throngs of tourists and an encounter with a lost child serve to ignite a spark of new peace with her destiny. Director Sadr-Ameli (THE GIRL IN THE SNEAKERS, I AM TARANEH, 15) evokes the city with mystery and a loveliness that matches the beauty of his star. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 18, 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 19, 3:00 pm
GREEN FIRE
(ATASH-ESABZ)
2008, Mohammad Reza Aslani, Iran, 110 min.
With Ezzatollah Entezami, Mehdi Ahmadi
The poetry of Sufi mystic Rumi was director Aslani’s major influence in creating this complex tale featuring narratives and tableaux sumptuously referencing Persian mythology and history. A young woman stranded on a roadside with her parents enters a seemingly abandoned desert fortress and travels back in time to discover that she is destined to become the bride of a dead man, the ancient warrior whose body pierced by seven darts lies in state in an upper chamber. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 4, 6:00 pm
Monday, October 6, 7:45 pm
LOOSE ROPE
(RISMAN-E BAZ)
2008, Mehrshad Karkhani, Iran, 82 min.
With Pejman Bazeghi, Babak Hamidian
Two young cowpokes Iranian-style are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place when their unseen boss calls in a favor that will eventually involve a dying pickup truck, an unhealthy heifer, and a damsel in distress. Like many an Iranian tale, it’s less about the goal than the quest, and the rope that reins in a cow is also the metaphorical bond that threatens to separate the winners from the losers in this world of guys who work the hard jobs for a living. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 11, 8:00 pm
Sunday, October 12, 5:00 pm
MOON SUN FLOWER GAME: A TRUE FAIRYTALE
(MOND SONNE BLUME SPIEL: EIN WAHRES M€RCHEN)
2008, Claus Strigel, Germany, 90 min.
In 1962, while making her legendary film THE HOUSE IS BLACK in a leper colony, the renowned Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad adopted a lively boy, the child of lepers, and took him home to Tehran. Farrokhzad died tragically only five years later and the curious world lost sight of her adopted son. Exiled Iranian poet Hossein Mansouri revisits the past from his home in Munich, reliving the strange odyssey of the boy who was himself, the story of his birth parents, and memories of the enigmatic artist who became his second mother. In German, Persian, and English with English subtitles. HD video. (BS)
Sunday, October 5, 3:00 pm
Tuesday, October 7, 6:00 pm
THE NIGHT
(SHAB)
2008, Rassul Sadr-Ameli, Iran, 90 min.
With Ezzatollah Entezami, Khosro Shakibai
A distinguished doctor (Entezami) handcuffed to a young police sergeant for transport to a distant city appears an unlikely prisoner. We never discover his alleged crime, but a night of strange adventures and revelations awaits the two when a winter storm strands them in the city of Mashad and food poisoning renders the cop an invalid. The intervention of an eccentric landlord (Shakibai), and the urgency of an old lady’s search for a shroud are catalysts for one man’s reconciliation with the past. THE NIGHT is the second-to-last film of beloved star Shakibai, who died of cancer in July. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 25, 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 26, 3:00 pm
OVER THERE
(AAN JA)
2008, Abdolreza Kahani, Iran, 75 min.
With Mazdak Mir-Abedini, Shahrzad Sokhan Sanj
Love and a green card don’t mix in this wry drama, but newly divorced Payman is about to discover that green of the pocket-folding kind could soothe a lot of headaches. OVER THERE dives into the world of Tehran twenty-somethings, where relationships are born and die in the course of electronic intrigues via cell phone and laptop. Payman has ten days to return to the U.S. to renew his green card, but his ex-wife Leila holds the power to prevent him from leaving the country. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, October 11, 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 12, 3:00 pm
7 BLIND WOMEN FILMMAKERS
(7 FILMSAZE ZAN-E NABINA)
2008, Various directors, Iran, 116 min.
A dream inspired director Mohammad Shirvani (NAVEL) to organize a year-long filmmaking workshop for blind women. The project culminated in the remarkable short films compiled here, each made with a compact digital camera and recording a very personal aspect of its maker’s life. Included: A CONVERSATION WITH THE WALL by Sara Parto; THE DEATH OF THE WITNESS by Shokufeh Davarnezhad; FIRE by Mahdis Elahi; NOTES FROM LAST NIGHT by Bafsheh Ahamdi; THE PATH OF LIFE by Nargess Haghighat; and GOODNIGHT by Naghemeh Afiyat. In Persian with English subtitles. Beta SP video. (BS)
We regret that filmmakers Mohammad Shirvani and Sarah Parto did not receive U.S. visas and will not be attending the screenings as previously announced.
Saturday, October 18, 8:00 pm
Sunday, October 19, 5:00 pm
3 WOMEN
(Sƒ ZAN)
2008, Manijeh Hekmat, Iran, 94 min.
With Niki Karimi, Pegah Ahangarani
A dispute over an ancient carpet propels a grandmother, mother, and daughter, into realms of mystery and mysticism. Minoo (Karimi), a museum textiles curator, makes off with the carpet, a national treasure, to save it from an unscrupulous dealer, but loses the precious antique and her mother as well, to a mission that beckons the elderly lady from the past. The call of the unknown puts Minoo’s daughter on the road to self-discovery, causing Minoo to question who or what she herself needs to find. From the director of WOMEN’S PRISON. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)