Film Series: “Iranian Film Fair”
As we usually do every year, the most recent Iranian cinema reappears in our program with ten titles that we consider representative of the independent and experimental cinema that is currently being produced in Iran. The adepts of this cinematography will be able to enjoy a particularly narrative cinema that gives us the possibility to see beyond what we can observe when we travel to this country.
The Showcase opens with the film Sly (2018) by Kamal Tabrizi, where the protagonist aspires to become a member of parliament, but must face the multiple paradoxes of political life and the challenges and strategies of his representatives. The solidity of the script is not only characteristic of this film but also of the other productions presented and it is difficult to choose. The interest aroused by Iranian cinema is very wide as has been proven by the latest releases that have taken place in our country, but we believe that the program we present on this occasion will contribute to the curiosity to know a little better their contribution. Films such as Castle of Dreams, Dance With Me, Gholamreza Takhti, Labyrinth, My Second Year in College, Repression, That Night’s Train, Tsunami and We Are All Together are the representation of this cinema of the new generations of resilient filmmakers who want to make an Iranian cinema, recovering the tradition that precedes them while keeping in mind the need to always innovate.
Programming:
Saturday, July 10, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Sly | Dir: Kamal Tabrizi | 2018 | 90′ | Drama.
Ghodrat Allah Samadi’s ambition is to become a member of parliament. However, he is known for his arbitrariness when making decisions, which is not in his favor. He decides to negotiate with fundamentalist parties, but no one takes him seriously. His life takes a turn when, because of his reputation, a reformist party tries to include his name on the list of candidates for the parliamentary elections. When the Guardian Council disqualifies him, he takes illegal actions that will lead him to flee to Turkey, where he will join the Monarchist Party.
Kamal Tabrizi is internationally known for Maternal Love, which won awards at the Berlin, Cairo, Montreal, Zlin and Seoul film festivals. He began his film career as a film director, screenwriter, editor and director of short films in 1979. He directed his first feature film, The Passage, in 1988, but Leily is with launched him as a successful filmmaker on the national scene. His groundbreaking project The Lizzard was a national box office success and received the Audience Award at the Fajr Festival, as well as the Best Asian Film Award at the 2004 Montreal Film Festival.
Saturday, July 17, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Castle of Dreams | Dir: Reza Mirkarimi | 2019 | 86′ | Drama.
A mother is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the father after long years of absence is forced to return home to take care of the family. But, his concern lies in the fact that he does not know if he will be able to take care of his children and keep the castle of dreams she built standing.
Reza Mirkarimi is a director, producer and screenwriter. He gained national recognition after his 1999 debut The Child and The Soldier. His film Under the Moonlight won an award at the International Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival (2001). Three other films of his were chosen to represent Iran at the Oscars under the Best International Film category: So Close, So Far (2005), A Cube of Sugar (2011) and Today (2014). His latest production, Castle of Dreams (2019), won the Best Film Award at the Shanghai festival.
Saturday, July 24, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Dance With Me | Dir: Soroush Sehat | 2019 | 85′ | Drama.
A group of friends gather to celebrate Jahangir’s birthday when he announces that he is terminally ill. What begins as a celebration soon turns into a confrontation between the past and the present. At death’s door, Jahangir begins the road to reconciliation and forgiveness.
Soroush Sehat is an actor and filmmaker. He made his name directing popular TV series and as a screenwriter for directors such as Farzad Motamen and Kioumars Porahmad. In 2019, he made his debut as a film director with the film Dance with Me, for which he won the Best Director Award and an honorable mention for his role as an actor in the same feature film, at the Fajr International Film Festival.
Saturday, July 31, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Gholamreza Takhti | Dir: Bahram Tavakoli | 2019 | 100′ | Drama.
In 1939 Gholamreza Takhti lived a life of poverty. In order to survive he decided to take up professional wrestling and soon after became an Olympic champion and the pride of Iranians. However, his life took a sudden turn and made him wish for death.
Bahram Tavakoli is an Iranian director and one of the leading figures of the new generation of filmmakers in his country. He earned both national and international acclaim for the film Here Without Me (2011), which is an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.
Saturday, September 4, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
Labyrinth | Dir: Amir Hossein Torabi | 2019 | 86′ | Drama.
Negar and Amirali have decided to emigrate, but at the last moment they are faced with a critical situation: their son, Bardiya, disappears unexpectedly. This and other circumstances make this the moment to reveal all the family secrets. This film is part of the series of titles that show us the development of Iranian cinema in the hands of young generations of filmmakers.
Amir Hossein is a producer, assistant director and director of short films. His thirteen short films, including Moonlight on the Canvas, Behind the Ramat Wall, Alzheimer’s and Love Quake. He has participated in the Berlin, Cologne, Sagreb and Tehran festivals, to name but a few, winning several awards. He has alternated advertising with teaching, giving workshops and making commercials.
Saturday, September 11, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
My Second Year in College | Dir: Rasoul Sadrameli | 2019 | 99′ | Drama
Two college classmates take a field trip to Isfahan with the whole class. But what starts out as an idyllic trip turns into a nightmare when one of them unexpectedly suffers an accident and falls into a coma. Her friend will have to cope with the situation, especially when she is given a responsibility she wishes she didn’t have. Despite her innocence, everything will go against her.
Rasoul Sadrameli began his career as a journalist at the age of 17. After studying for a few years in France, he returned to Iran where he produced his first film after the Iranian revolution, Rain of Blood (1981). The rest of his projects were considered great successes, and that made the Iranian public value him as one of the leading film directors of his country. Currently, he runs his own distribution company MILAD FILM, which produces documentaries and television programs.
Saturday, September 18, 2021, 8 p.m.
Repression | Dir: Reza Gouran | 2019 | 91′ | Drama.
After a long time, three sisters return to the house where they were born, to visit their parents. When they arrive there, they must face their mother’s deterioration due to Alzheimer’s and the unexpected disappearance of their father, who left one morning and did not return. One day the police find a body that could be his, but all the sisters refuse to identify it. However, the darkest family secrets will not cease to haunt them in this story of intrigue and grief.
Reza Gouran has been considered by international critics as one of the most promising voices of the new generation of Iranian filmmakers, without forgetting that he is also one of the great theater directors of his country. His productions related to classical literature, Hamlet, Man Equals Man, and Medea, have been rated as masterpieces.
Saturday, September 25, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
That Night’s Train | Dir: Hamidreza Ghotbi | 2019 | 85′ | Drama | VOSE.
An elementary school teacher with writing aspirations asks her students for help in writing a new story. The plot ultimately concerns a girl who, after losing her mother, finds herself trapped in a story with her teacher that has no future.
Hamidreza Ghotbi is an actor and film director. As a filmmaker he has devoted his career to making short films and That Night’s Train is his first feature film.
Saturday, October 2, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
Tsunami | Dir: Milad Sadrameli | 2019 | 100′ | Drama.
Morteza Nezhadi participated in the Taekwondo Olympics in 2002, but agreed to let himself be defeated for political reasons. This decision became both a professional and personal obsession. Eight years later, he was called back to the national team, but he was worried about the young star Behdad Moghimi, known as Tsunami, as his opponent. Tsunami, however, is also at a personal crossroads because his girlfriend is not accepted on the national basketball team due to her Afghan origin.
Milad Sadrameli was an assistant to his father, Rasoul Sadrameli, from a very young age. This is how he entered the world of cinema. In 2006 he made his first documentary, Varazdin Pedestrians, about the former coach of the Iranian national soccer team, Branko Ivanković. Tsunami is his first feature film.
Saturday, October 9, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
We Are All Together | Dir: Kamal Tabrizi | 2019 | 95′ | Drama.
After some failed attempts to save an airline company from bankruptcy, its owner gathers a group of people to be her accomplices, although some call her strategy suicidal. What seemed like an impossible plan to carry out changes direction following an unexpected accident.
Kamal Tabrizi is internationally known for Maternal Love, which won awards at the Berlin, Cairo, Montreal, Zlin and Seoul film festivals. Tabrizi began his film career as a film director, screenwriter, editor and director of short films in 1979. He directed his first feature film, The Passage, in 1988, but Leily is with launched him as a successful filmmaker on the national scene. His groundbreaking project The Lizzard was a national box-office hit and received the Audience Award at the Fajr Festival, as well as the Best Asian Film Award at the 2004 Montreal Film Festival.
