21st Annual Festival of Films from Iran
- 21st Annual Festival of Films from Iran
The Gene Siskel Film Center presents the twenty-first edition of our Festival of Films from Iran from October 2 through 31, marking the beginning of the third decade for this annual showcase for Iranian cinema. This ever-changing national cinema provides a window on contemporary Persian culture and on the stories and issues perceived by Iran’s film artists. As more filmmakers work both inside and outside of Iran, we have increasingly found it valuable to add work by those representing the Iranian diaspora into the mix, and this year is no exception.
In the comedy-drama PAYBACK, Tahmineh Milani brings characteristic wit to a plot involving four women fighting male privilege with a unique scam. The question of the place of a young woman in modern-day Iran is also treated in the dramas MY TEHRAN FOR SALE and SALVE. Iran’s widening generation gap figures prominently in both of those films, and also in "The Last String," Mehdi Karampour’s episode in the two-part feature TEHRAN TEHRAN.
A distinct nostalgia for tradition and for the quality of social interaction that harks back to gentler times pervades Dariush Mehrjui’s "Days of Acquaintance" episode in TEHRAN TEHRAN. Tradition represented as cryptic ritual is central to Mohammad Rasoulof’s THE WHITE MEADOWS, a film of breathtakingly beautiful visuals that may or may not have allegorical implications.
On October 23 and 24, the Gene Siskel Film Center cooperates with Pasfarda Arts & Cultural Exchange to host appearances by Sadeq Saba, head of the BBC’s Persian Service. Saba will present and discuss two BBC films that address Iran past and present: THE GENIUS OF OMAR KHAYYAM and THE ELECTION THAT SHOOK IRAN.
On November 6 and 11, we present the Midwest premiere of DOG SWEAT by Northwestern University alumnus Hossein Keshavarz, a late addition to the Iranian Diaspora section of the festival. Shot clandestinely in Iran by the Iranian American director, DOG SWEAT poignantly dramatizes the forms personal rebellion takes for seven thirty-somethings whose lives revolve around all that is forbidden, including sex, drugs, and music.
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 Mahsa Fariba; Katayoon Shahabi, Sheherazad Media International; Jeremy Quist, Global Film Initiative. Thanks for advice and cooperation to: Mohammad Atebbai, Iranian Independents; and Alireza Shahrokhi and Ali Haji Ghasemi, IRIB Media Trade.
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; Mohammad Pakshir; Hamid Naficy; Ahmad Sadri, Lake Forest College; and Narimon Safavi, Pasfarda Arts & Cultural Exchange.
PAYBACK
Showtimes
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Chicago premiere!
- PAYBACK
- (TASVIEH HES AB)
- 2010, Tahmineh Milani, Iran, 103 min.
- With Ladan Mostofi, Mahnaz Afshar
Iran’s daring feminist filmmaker pushes the envelope once again, with a two-edged comedy-drama that bristles with a sharp sense of humor. A paroled female ex-con talks three other former jailbirds into a get-rich-quick scheme that involves fleecing gullible men on the lookout for a brief vacation from their marriage vows. While director Milani (CEASE FIRE, THE UNWANTED WOMAN) doesn’t shun the darker implications of the plot, she infuses the caper with some nasty fun and a dominatrix vibe when these four young women deftly turn the tables on their would-be male predators. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
THE WHITE MEADOWS
Showtimes
Tickets
Chicago premiere!
- THE WHITE MEADOWS
- (KESHTZAR HAYE SEPID)
- 2009, Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 93 min.
- With Hasan Pourshirazi, Younes Ghazali
“Mesmerizing…Visually an incredible and indelible film.”
“Rasoulof emerges as one of the most vivid cine-folklorists since Sergei Parajanov.”
In a pure white land where sea and sky merge, an itinerant boatman has the job of collecting the tears of those who grieve in a glass flagon, and listening to their sorrows. THE WHITE MEADOWS, by the director of IRON ISLAND, casts a folkloric spell as rituals and music define the parameters of an ancient and unknowable way of life. Some critics read the film as an allegory that may or may not refer to Iran’s present-day sorrows. THE WHITE MEADOWS is co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens 2011 film series. For more information, visit www.globalfilm.org. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
TEHRAN TEHRAN
Showtimes
Tickets
Chicago premiere!
- TEHRAN TEHRAN
- 2010, Darius Mehrjui and Mehdi Karampour, Iran, 109 min.
- With Pantea Bahram, Ghorban Najafi, Reza Yazdani, Rana Azadivar
Two directors representing different generations create stories set in Tehran. In "Episode One: Days of Acquaintance," Dariush Mehrjui (MAMA’S GUESTS, HAMOON), one of the key figures of the New Iranian Cinema, weaves Persian New Year traditions and sweet memories of the past into a heartwarming tale of a young family’s change of fortune after they mistakenly board a bus full of senior citizens for a tour of the city. In "Episode Two: The Last String," director Karampour tells a contemporary story of the eruption of in-fighting and suspicion that results when an underground rock band faces the last-minute cancellation of their concert permit. In Persian with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
MY TEHRAN FOR SALE
Showtimes
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Chicago premiere!
Films of the Iranian Diaspora
- MY TEHRAN FOR SALE
- 2009, Granaz Moussavi, Australia/Iran, 97 min,
- With Marzieh Vafamehr, Amir Chegini
“The guerilla style filmmaking needs no excuses: it works cinematically on every level.”
“Set against a backdrop of rarely seen urban subcultures and a soundtrack of alternative Iranian music.”
Hope and terror alternate in this fictional tale of a terminally ill Tehran actress wavering in her plan to emigrate to follow a foreign-born boyfriend, which director Moussavi, now living in Australia, shot against a background of authentic street life and the thriving clandestine culture of Iranian youth. Music plays a prominent role, including singer/songwriter Babak Mirzakhani with his Persian Blues Band, and Mohsen Namjou, “the Bob Dylan of Iran.” MY TEHRAN FOR SALE is co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens 2010 film series. For more information, visit www.globalfilm.org. In Persian and English with English subtitles. DigiBeta video. (BS)
THE GENIUS OF OMAR KHAYYAM + THE ELECTION THAT SHOOK IRAN
Showtimes
Tickets
Films of the Iranian Diaspora
Sadeq Saba in person!
- THE GENIUS OF OMAR KHAYYAM
- 2009, Bahman Kiarostami and Neil Cameron, UK, 47 min.
- THE ELECTION THAT SHOOK IRAN
- 2009, Sima Alinejad and Patrick Hubbard, UK, 25 min.
In a program co-presented with Pasfarda Arts & Cultural Exchange, Sadeq Saba, Iranian affairs analyst and head of the BBC’s Persian Service, presents and discusses two BBC reports exploring aspects of Iran’s history, culture and politics. THE GENIUS OF OMAR KHAYYAM traces the interface between East and West that occurred when the poetry of Omar Khayyam was translated from Persian into English by the Victorian poet Edward Fitzgerald, and considers the official ambivalence with which Khayyam is regarded in Iran today despite his grassroots popularity. In THE ELECTION THAT SHOOK IRAN, Saba analyzes the political situation following Iran’s violently disputed 2009 election. DigiBeta video. (BS)
Sadeq Saba will be present for audience discussion at both screenings.
SALVE
Showtimes
Tickets
Chicago premiere!
- SALVE
- (MARHAM)
- 2010, Alireza Davoodnejad, Iran, 95 min.
- With Ehteram Habibian, Tanaz Tabatabaei
A crusty grandmother finds herself in the unlikely role of guardian angel to her rebellious granddaughter, who runs away for love of a drug dealer and is left like a tender chick at the mercy of hawks. A sense of moody poetry runs through this story that combines the grimness of the underworld with a palpable longing for family. Two parallel stories merge when a shady developer, who has his own strong-willed grandmother hovering not so gently over his life, has a fateful encounter with the runaway. In Persian with English subtitles. Beta SP video. (BS)
DOG SWEAT
Showtimes
Tickets
Chicago Premiere!
Films of the Iranian Diaspora
- DOG SWEAT
- (ARAGH SAGEE)
- 2010, Hossein Keshavarz, Iran, 90 min.
- With Sara Esfahani, Tahereh Azadi
“A potentially ground-breaking independent film.”
Iranian American director Keshavarz takes a step into risky territory with this cinéma-vérité drama revolving around the behind-closed-doors lives and loves of seven affluent Tehran 20-somethings. Chaos and uncertainty lurk in the background while repression breeds a sullen sort of daring as Mahsa attempts a forbidden singing career, Hooman hides his homosexuality from his matchmaking mom, Katie uses adultery with her cousin’s husband as a respite from boredom, and shy young lovers Dawood and Katherine search for a safe place to bed down. The title is slang for bootleg booze. In Persian with English subtitles. HDCAM video. (BS)
