What will lighten our dark night? An untimely love?!

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s latest film Tales is a collection of stories highlighting the difficulties the lower classes face in today’s society, from unemployed factory workers to poor or drug-addled women or those at risk of domestic violence.

The stories take us all over Tehran, with tales of patriarchal abuse, forced imprisonment and prostitution unfolding in taxis, trains and buses — each marked by fear, but also acts of courage and love.

After three decades of filmmaking the characters of my documentary and feature films are still alive to me and I live with them. “Tales” is returning to the characters of my previous films under today’s circumstances. Even though “Tales” is a complete independent version, but for me and the people who have seen my previous movies, is a review of the people’s fate and social conditions over the past three decades. Rakhshan Banietemad, director

Awards
– Best Screenplay Award: 71st Venice Film Festival (2014)
– Jury Grand Prize: 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2014)

Tales (Ghasseh-ha) (trailer):

Director& Producer: Rakhshan Banietemad
Screenplay: R. Banietemad, Farid Mostafavi
Production Designer: Amir Esbati
Director of Photography: Koohyar Kalari
Sound Recorder: Yadollah Najafi
Sound Mix: Amirhossein Ghassemi
Editor: Sepideh Abdolvahab
Music: Siamak Kalantari
Make-Up Designer: Mehrdad Mirkiani
Production Manager: Nava Rohani
Executive Producer: Kanoon Iran Novin
Cast: Golab Adineh, Saber Abar, Farhad Aslani, Foojan Arefpoor, Bahareh Daneshgar, Mohammadreza Forootan, Shahrokh Forootanian, Babak Hamidian, Mehdi Hashemi, Negar Javaherian, Baran Kosari, Fatemeh Motamedaria, Peiman Moadi, Hassan Majooni, Habib Rezaei, Atefeh Razavi, Mehraveh Sharifinia, Khosro Shahraz, Rima Raminfar
Color, D-Cinema, 16:9, 88 min, 2014, Iran

Sources: Noori Pictures | Feature | “Tales” (Ghesseha), Aquila Style

Shahram Mokri (Persian: شهرام مکری‎) is an Iranian writer and film director. Born 1977 in Marand, Iran, Shahram Mokri is a graduate of cinema from Tehran’s Soureh College.

Raised in a family of movie lovers, director Shahram Mokri took multiple filmmaking workshops in his native Iran before enrolling in Tehran at the university to study cinema. He started making short films in 2000 and also edited television series and more than 20 short and documentary films.

“I belong to the group of movie lovers who cut out photos of movie stars from magazines,” recalls Mokri. “I’d hang them on my bedroom wall or stick them on my school notebooks. I’ve loved to make movies since I was a child and I’m so happy to still be doing it now.”

His short films brought him national and international recognition along with his debut feature film, Ashkan, The Charmed Ring And Other Stories, which had its international premiere at Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in 2009.

Mokri’s second film, Fish & Cat, premiered at the 70th Venice Film Festival and was awarded the Special Orizzonti Award for innovative content. He was nominated for the 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing for Fish & Cat. For his short film The Dragonfly Storm, Mokri won Best Director at the 2007 Noor Iranian Film Festival.

Filmography
– 2000: Electric Shock And Fly (short)
– 2002: Toofan-e Sanjaghak (The Dragonfly Storm) (short)
– 2005: Mahdoodeh-ye Dayereh (Limit of circle) (short)
– 2006: This is the question (documentary)
– 2007: Andosi (Ando-C) (short)
– 2009: Ashkan, angoshtar-e motebarek va dastan-haye digar (Ashkan, the charmed ring and other stories)
– 2011: Kham, pekhth, swkhth (Raw, cooked and burnt) (short)
– 2013: Mahi va Gorbeh (Fish & Cat)

Sources: Wikipedia | Shahram Mokri, Asia Pacific Screen Academy | Shahram Mokri, Houston Iranian Film Festival | Fish & Cat, Film Society Lincoln Center | Meet the (New) Director: Shahram Mokri

Fish & Cat (from Persian transliterated as Mahi va Gorbeh) is a 2013 mystery drama slasher Iranian film directed by Shahram Mokri. The film was first premiered at the 70th Venice Film Festival in September 2013.

“Selected in 2014 for New Directors/New Films (the annual spring showcase from the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA), Fish & Cat heralds the emergence of a fresh and original new voice in Iranian cinema combining formal experimentation with a sly sense of humour.”

Shahram Mokri’s second feature initially seems as if it might be the first Iranian slasher movie, but things are not always as they appear. Filmed in one long, bravura shot by top cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari (A Separation), it plays mind-bending games with time and place while a pair of potential serial killer cannibals stalk a group of camping students at a lake.

“In my short films I was trying to define a new meaning of time, of it being on one plane—very similar to the perspective Escher revealed in his paintings. I attempt to make type of experimental film that shows a new side of what the audience is used to seeing. On the other hand, Fish & Cat was produced due to my interest in slasher and genre films. I wanted to make a movie that would challenge our regular thoughts about time, and also one that used the same old genre structures. For Fish & Cat I took a real-life case and made it my own. It’s also a film that focuses on the Iranian youth generation. Because the film was been shot using just a single one, we rehearsed the film for two months exactly like we would have a theater performance. I decided to prepare with long rehearsals and we ran through the full movie twice a day. The actors do have theatrical backgrounds, so their experience being in front of an audience was helpful throughout.” – Shahram Mokri

Awards
– Special Prize, Venice Horizons Award: 70th Venice Film Festival (2013)
– Best Film Award: Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival 2013
– Muhr Asia Africa Special Jury Prize: Dubai International Film Festival 2013
– FIPRESCI Prize and Youth Jury Award: Fribourg International Film Festival 2014
– Best Film Award (International !f Inspired Competition) and SIYAD (Turkish Film Critics Association) Jury Award: 13th Istanbul Independent Film Festival (2014)

Fish & Cat (Mahi va gorbeh) (trailer):

Director: Shahram Mokri
Cast: Babak Karimi, Saeid Ebrahimifar, Siyavash Cheraghi Pour, Mohammad Berahmani
Producer: Sepher Seifi
Executive Producer: Shahrzad Seifi
Screenwriter: Shahram Mokri
Director of Photography: Mahmoud Kalari
Production Designer: Amir Esbati
Music: Christophe Rezai
Sound: Parviz Abnar
Production Company: Kanoon Iran Novin

Sources: Wikipedia | Fish & Cat, trigon-film.org (Photos), UCLA Happenings | Fish & Cat, The Hollywood Reporter, 13th !f Istanbul Independent Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) 2014 | Fish & Cat, Houston Iranian Film Festival | Fish & Cat

“My name is John Ford and I make westerns” this is how John Ford introduced himself at the American Film Directors’ Association gathering. Negahdar Jamali, an Iranian from Shiraz introduced himself the same way when I first met him without knowing John Ford that well.

“MY NAME IS NEGAHDAR JAMALI AND I MAKE WESTERNS” he introduced himself with self-confidence and without any weakness in his statement; not in the Monument Valley or in the Grand Canyon but in Shiraz and the deserts surrounding the city. He has been making Western films continuously for the past 35 years under hard conditions, and this film is about the struggle with his family, friends and society to make what he likes the most in his life “Western Movies”.

While “My Name is Negahdar…” might begin as an oddity it soon evolves into a moving tribute to a man who will let nothing separate him from his art. “I almost fell into the trap of making a social documentary but then I realised that with this film cinema is the only thing that matters,” said Heidari.

“It is about a man and his love for cinema and for making cinema. His love for cinema is just so pure. He doesn’t want to make money out of them, he just wants to make these films and he puts everything he has into it,” he said. “It’s inspiring and a lot more honest to just tell his story.”

My Name Is Negahdar Jamali And I Make Westerns (trailer):

Director: Kamran Heidari
Cast: Negahdar Jamali
Movie type: Documentary
Photography: Kamran Heidari
Editor: Bahman Kiarostami
Sound recorder: Sasan Kaveh
Sound mix: Kamyar Behbahani, Farshid Zarmehr
Music selection: Ennio Morricone, Hamid Saeed
Production Manager: Tahereh Alavizadeh
Producer: Mehrdad Monavarian
Color, SD-Video, 16:9, 65 min, 2012, IRAN

Sources: Iranian Film Festival in Germany, The Daily Star Lebanon, My name is Negahdar Jamali and I make westerns (Photos), Kamran Heidari Official Site | Films

The UCLA Film and Television Archive is pleased to once again explore the diverse currents of Iranian cinema with its annual series highlighting recent and classic films from Iran and the Iranian diaspora.

The Program “UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema”, funded by the Farhang Foundation, will take place from April 25, 2015 to May 16, 2015 at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood Village, Los Angeles, USA.

Film directors Rakhshan Banietemad (4/25), Shahram Mokri (4/26), Kamran Heidari (4/27), Sepideh Farsi (5/8), Zhinous Pedram (5/10) and Amir Badie (5/16) will be attending in-person to discuss their work.

In the wake of Asghar Farhadi’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar win for A Separation in 2011, the depth and breadth of Iranian cinema today continues to amaze even as the challenges faced by its filmmakers remain of concern.

While established masters continue to make their unique voices heard, including writer-director Rakhshan Banietemad, whose award-winning Tales opens this year’s series, newer filmmakers continue to captivate.  Farhadi’s influence can be felt in a number of outstanding, tightly-wound contemporary dramas by emerging directors (Melbourne, I’m Not Angry), while others are charting radically different paths visually and narratively (Fish & Cat, 316).

Screening schedule:

Saturday, April 25
TALES (Ghesse-ha) / 7:30 PM /
In person: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad (DIR)
Iran, 2014 / 91 min. / DIR: Rakhshan Banietemad /
CAST: Fatemeh Motamed Aria, Peyman Moaadi, Baran Kosari

Winner of the Best Screenplay award in Venice, writer, writer-director Rakhshan Banietemad’s return to fiction filmmaking is a tour-de-force portrait of a people and a society at the breaking point.

Sunday, April 26
I’M NOT ANGRY (Asabani nistam!) / 3:00 PM
Iran, 2014 / 110 min. / DIR: Reza Dormishian /
CAST: Baran Kosari, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Reza Behoudi

Director Reza Dormishian’s second feature bluntly depicts the seething frustrations of a generation through the emotional and personal struggles of a student activist trying to get his life on track.

FISH & CAT (Mahi va gorbeh) / 7:00 PM /
In person: Shahram Mokri (DIR)
Iran, 2013 / 134 min. / DIR: Shahram Mokri /
CAST: Babak Karimi, Saeed Ebrahimifar, Siavash Cheraghipoor

With Fish & Cat, writer-director Shahram Mokri emerges as an original new voice in Iranian cinema, blending bravura technical skills with a boldly absurdist, apocalyptic vision.

Monday, April 27
MY NAME IS NEGAHDAR JAMALI AND I MAKE WESTERNS / 7:30 PM /
In person: Kamran Heidari (DIR)
Iran, 2013 / 65 min. / DIR: Kamran Heidari / CAST: Negahdar Jamali

Utterly unexpected and thoroughly charming, director Kamran Heidari’s debut documentary about an amateur filmmaker in southwestern Iran explodes preconceived notions and illuminates the universal power of cinema.

Friday, May 1
TODAY (Emrouz) / 7:30 PM
Iran, 2014 / 88 min. / DIR: Reza Mirkarimi /
CAST: Parviz Parastui, Soheila Golestani, Shabnam Moghadami

Iran’s official submission for Oscar consideration, writer-director Reza Mirkarimi’s tense, powerful drama unfolds over a single day after a cab driver allows himself to be drawn into the personal crisis of a woman who jumps into his backseat.

Saturday, May 2
RED CARPET (Farshe Ghermez) / 7:30 PM
Iran, 2014 / 80 min. / DIR: Reza Attaran /
CAST: Reza Attaran, Marc Ansari, Susan Parvar

One of Iran’s most famous comedians, Reza Attaran, takes on Hollywood and the international media in this hilarious but gentle satire.

Wednesday, May 6
WHAT’S THE TIME IN YOUR WORLD? (Dar donyaye to sa’at chand ast?) / 7:30 PM
Iran, 2014 / 101 min. / DIR: Safi Yazdanian / CAST: Leila Hatami, Ali Mosaffa, Ebrahim Zamir

Leila Hatami stars as Goli, a woman who returns to her hometown after decades living abroad to find a mysterious guide waiting to take her on a journey of self-discovery suffused with romantic melancholy.

Friday, May 8
RED ROSE / 7:30 PM / In person: Sepideh Farsi (DIR)
France/Greece/Iran, 2014 / 87 min. / DIR: Sepideh Farsi / CAST: Mina Kavani, Vassilis Koukalani

Writer-director Sepideh Farsi ingeniously employs a single setting to dramatize the vicissitudes of political idealism in intimate and deeply personal ways amid the explosive passions of the Green Revolution.

Sunday, May 10
316 / 7:00 PM
Iran, 2014 / 72 min. / DIR: Payman Haghani / CAST: Sara Vazirzadeh (narrator)

Writer-director Payman Haghani reflects on recent Iranian experience through one woman’s singular passion for shoes with a film as beguiling as it is moving.

Preceded by:
PINK NAIL POLISH / In person: Zhinous Pedram (DIR)
Iran, 2014 / 6 min. / DIR: Zhinous Pedram

Slowly, cautiously, a young girl makes her way out into the world in director Zhinous Pedram’s beautifully shot paean to girlhood.

Friday, May 15
MELBOURNE / 7:30 PM
Iran, 2014 / 91 min. / DIR: Nima Javidi / CAST: Payman Maadi, Negar Javaherian, Mani Haghighi

Writer-director Nima Javidi’s remarkable debut feature is one of the most nerve-wracking, nail-biting, what-would-you-do ethical thrillers in recent memory.

Saturday, May 16
STILL LIFE (Tabiate bijan) / 7:30 PM
Iran, 1974 / 93 min. / DIR: Sohrab Shahid Saless / CAST: Zadour Bonyadi, Mohammed Kani, Hibibollah Safarian

Winner of the Silver Bear at Berlin in 1974, Still Life tells the story of an elderly railroad employee forced into retirement, and confirmed Sohrab Shahid Saless as a “leading visionary of his generation.”

Preceded by:
MOHSEN BADIE: ARTISAN OF CINEMA / In person: Amir Badie
Iran, 2009 / 45 min. / DIR: Aziz Saati / CAST: Naser Malek Motiei, Bahman Farmanara, Houshang Kavoosi

This heartfelt tribute pays homage to Iranian cinema pioneer Mohsen Badie, founder of what film scholar Hamid Naficy described as “perhaps the best film lab in Iran.”

Sources: UCLA Film and Television Archive | UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema, Farhang Foundation

Born in 1977, in Gachsaran, close to the old city of Shiraz, Heidari directs documentaries and films about the lives of the people who come from his region. In 2012, Heidari directed his very first full-length documentary about the life of the eccentric and touching figure of Negahdar Jamali from Shiraz.

In 2013, Heidari directed another documentary, also on the life of an eccentric and touching person with a dream; Hamid Saeed, one of the best-known Iranian musicians with African roots.

One day while I was taking photos in Shiraz’s old neighborhood near the bazaar where century-old houses were falling into ruin I saw some beautiful writing on a wall which said “don’t know”.

I took a picture of the wall. As I was editing the photo and looking again at the writing it made me wonder about the person who wrote it? Did he or she write the words in a good mood or were they in a philosophical state of mind?

Rumi, the great Persian poet and philosopher wrote that “I” is a euphoric state — “What I know, what I know”. This “I” is what I think about when I take photos — it has become my overall concept for the Shiraz Street Photos series.

These old neighbourhoods serve as my photo workshop, the walls are my interior design and I carry my studio on my back. The subjects of these portraits stand in front of walls scrawlled with text — text full of sadness, happiness, pleasure, love, but also full of hope for life.

Apart from text, these walls incorporate other elements such as telephone and electrical cables, heater vents, and cracks, which make this environment even more attractive to me. These people represent the “don’t know” text on the walls. One can view them from an anthropological perspective — the geographic sections of the city of Shiraz become the backdrops for its’ inhabitants. In all of the photos the subjects look somewhat surreal. Kamran Heidari’s on Shiraz Street Photo Series

EXHIBITION
2014: “Good News from Iran”, Pasinger Fabrik, Munich Germany (Isfahan Gate Series and Shiraz Street Photos Series) – Curators: Stefan-Maria Mittendorf and Mojgan Endjavi-Barbé

FILMOGRAPHY
2004: “Dash Akol” (Documentary, 18min)
2006: Mohammad Bahman Beigi (Documentary, 40min)
2006: The Big Red (Short film, 14min)
2007: Comfortably Numb (Feature, 85min)
2008: At the End of Perfect day (Documentary, 50min)
2010: The Dead Sea (Documentary, 30min)
2011: Mola Sadra (Documentary, 30min)
2012: My name is Negahdar Jamali and I make westerns (Documentary, 65min)
2014: Dingomaro – Iran’s Black South (Documentary, 45min)

Sources: The Culture Trip | Kamran Heidari’s universal cinema beauty and humanity from Iran, Endjavi-Barbé Art Projects | Kamran Heidari, Kamran Heidari Official Site

Since his Internet hit, “Bad Shans” (hard luck), Hamid Saeid has become one of the best-known Iranian musicians with African roots. He’s travelling by motorbike across the province of Hormozgan, which is situated in the South of the country on the Persian Gulf, in order to realize his dream. He wants to organize a concert with the best black musicians in the country.

Besides Persians, Indians, Arabs and Europeans, the province of Hormozgan, Iran’s “black south” has been influenced primarily by the descendants of slaves and merchants from Africa. Although Shiites, they still hold Voodoo ceremonies just as their African ancestors did and wakes in Hormozgan are more reminiscent of scenes from New Orleans, with the mourners dancing in an elated and joyous manner to black rhythms.

Filmmaker Kamran Heidari accompanies Hamid Saeid as he attempts to make his dream come true. He must overcome numerous hurdles along the way: Hormozgan’s landscape, which is as inhospitable as it is breathtaking, traveling from the coast over rugged mountains to the desert, the African spirit rites; and the resistance of his wife, who is completely against his plan.

In an Interview Mr. Heidari talks about the healing tradition of Zar in the south of Iran: “There are wild winds (Dingomaro) coming from Africa and these winds are always in movement. Sometimes these winds take over ones body and then they will stay inside. This is when the Zar ceremony becomes necessary”.

The healers and masters of Zar ceremonies are called Mama Zar or Baba Zar, depending on gender, and by beating the drums and chanting MamaZar or BabaZar will drive these wild winds away. During the filming of the documentary, Kamran Heidari was asked many times to let Mama Zar drive the Dingomaro away from his body but he declined saying that he has made peace with these African wind spirits and has made friends with them. He would like to keep them in his heart.

By incorporating African rhythms into the music that he plays, Saeid succeeds in preserving his heritage that he then shares with others. But, at the same time, cultures are dynamic: by mixing African and Iranian beats, he is recreating traditions and moulding them into a new form of hybrid identity. Holding an ‘African-style’ concert in an area where many have rejected, or forgotten about their roots can be challenging. Heidari, together with Saeid, show us how to value this cultural heritage and give it a meaning through music. It was screened as part of the UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema in May 2014.

Dingomaro – Iran’s Black South (trailer):

Director: Kamran Heidari
Film by: Kamran Heidari, Dariusch Rafiy
DoP: Sajjad Avarand
Camera: Kamran Heidari, Bahman Kiarostami, Hasan Rastin
Editor: Kamran Heidari, Martin Homel
Assistant: Tahereh Alavizadeh
Sound Recording: Mohamad Hossein Kaveh
Sound Mix: Kamyar Behbahani
Photography: Tahereh Alavizadeh
Producer: Dariush Rafi-y, Kambiz Khorram
Documentary / 66 min / Color / HD-Video / 16:9 / 2013 / IRAN

Sources: The Culture Trip | Kamran Heidari’s universal cinema beauty and humanity from Iran, Kamran Heidari Official Site | Films, Autentic | Dingomaro – Iran’s Black South, Blog Africa to Persia

Reza Attaran (born 1968 in Mashhad) is an Iranian actor, director, screenwriter and singer. He won in 2008 the Best Actor Award at the Gol Agha Comedy Festival and is regarded as one of the most creative and prolific Iranian comedy actors.

He graduated from high school in Mashhad majoring in Economy and moved to Tehran to study Industrial Design at the University of Tehran. Despite enjoying his field of study he turned to acting. In 1980s he started playing theatre under Hassan Hamed, portraying non comic roles until 1992 when Hamed passed away.

Attaran made his television debut playing his first comedy role as Reza back in 1994 in the TV Series Happy Hour (Saate Khosh) directed by Mehran Modiri alongside actors like Reza Shafii Jam, Nasrollah Radesh, Arzhang Amirfazli and Nader Soleimani.

In 1994 he married Farideh Faramarzi, a film editor and actress. She played with her husband in the movie Absolute Rest (Esterahate Motlagh) directed by Abdolreza Kahani.

Between 1997 and 2003 he started directing his own TV series where he achieved great recognition and fame for his singing skills. At that time he formed a music band called Dampaei (Slippers) together with Youssef Teimouri and other artists. Since then he has become the most successful comedy series maker in Iranian TV.

Attaran made his debut as a film director in 2011 with I feel sleepy (Khabam Miad). In 2013 he directed and acted in Red Carpet (Farshe Ghermez); Attaran’s sarcastic take on film festivals, fame and stars.

He was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 30th, 31st and 32nd Fajr International Film Festival: In 2012 for I feel sleepy (Khabam Miad), in 2013 for The Corridor (Dehliz) and in 2014 for Sensitive floor (Tabagheye Hasas).

TV shows
Happy Hour (Saate Khosh, as Reza, comedy, 1995-96)
Acacia Alley (as Faramaz, director: Reza Attaran, comedy, 2002-03)
Vagabond (as Ahmad, director: Reza Attaran, comedy, 2004)
The Accused Fled (as Ramin, director: Reza Attaran, comedy, 2005)
Shirin-va-Torsh (as Naser, director: Reza Attaran, comedy, 2007)
Turning Point (as Nader, director: Reza Attaran, comedy, 2008)
Ghalbe Yakhi (as Esfandiar, crime/drama, 2012)

Films
– 2015: Sperm whale (shooting, as Arjang, director: Saman Moghadam)
– 2015: Absolute Rest (Esterahate Motlagh, as Davoud, director: Abdolreza Kahani)
– 2014: Bar Bad Rafteh (Director: Reza Attaran)
– 2013: The Corridor (Dehliz, as Behzad, Director: Behrouz Shoaibi)
– 2013: Red Carpet (Farshe Ghermez, director: Reza Attaran)
– 2013: Sensitive Floor (Tabagheye Hasas, as Kamali, director: Kamal Tabrizi)
– 2013: Kalashnikov (Director: Kamal Tabrizi)
– 2012: By no reason (Bikhod & Bijahat, director: Abdolreza Kahani)
– 2011: I feel sleepy (Khabam Miad, as Reza, Director: Reza Attaran)
– 2010: Whatever God Wants (Harchi Khoda Bekhad, director: Navid Mihandoost)
– 2010: No men allowed (Voroode Aghayan Mamnoo, as Vahid Jebelli, director: Rambod Javan)
– 2010: Absolutely tame is a horse (Asb Heivane Najibi Ast, as Behruz Shakiba, director: Abdolreza Kahani)
– 2009: Az Ma Behtaroon (Director: Mehrdad Farid)
– 2009: Nish O Zanboor (Director: HR Slahmnd)
– 2009: Khoros Jangi (Director: Masood Atyabi)
– 2009: Bad Az Zohre Saghie Saghi
– 2008: Aghaye Haft Rang (Director: Shahram Shah-Hosseini)
– 2008: Empty chair (Sandali Khalli, director: Saman Astrky)
– 2007: Token (Neshani, director: Fereydoun Hassanpour)
– 2007: Tasvie Hesab (Director: Tamineh Milani)
– 2007: Tofighe Ejbari (as Ata, director: Mohammad Hossein Latifi)
– 2007: Quarantine (Gharantineh, director: Manouchehr Hadi)
– 2006: A hat for the rain Kolahi Baraye Baran (Director: Masood Navabi)
– 2006: Tigh Zan (Director: Alireza Davoodinejad)
– 2005: Havoo (Director: Alireza Davoudinejad)
– 2002: Kolah Ghermezi Va Sarvenaz (Director: Iraj Tahmasb)
– 2000: Cinderella (Director: Bijan Birang)
– 1997: Sarzamine Sabz (Director: Bijan Birang)

Awards
Best Actor Award at the 2008 Gol Agha Comedy Festival
Crystal Simorgh for Best Director in the New Vision section at the 30th International Fajr Film Festival for I feel sleepy (Khabam Miad), 2012
Statuette for Best Actor at the 15th House of Cinema Awards for Absolutely tame is a horse (Asb Heivane Najibi Ast)
Statuette of Golden Smile for Best Comedy Actor in the 2nd Sun’s Smile Awards for both Absolutely tame is a horse (Asb Heivane Najibi Ast) & No men allowed (Voroode Aghayan Mamnoo)
Diploma of Honor for Best Actor at the 6th Critics & Writers Guild’s Awards for By no reason (Bikhod & Bijahat), 2012

Sources: Wikipedia | Reza Attaran, Reza Attaran | Biography, picbazi.com | The legendary Attaran, Iran Novin Film | Red Carpet – Director’s Biography

Reza Mirkarimi (Persian: رضا میرکریمی ‎, born 1966 in Tehran) is an Iranian film writer and director. He graduated from Fine Arts University in Graphic Arts. His cinema activities began in 1987 with a series of shorts followed by two TV series aimed at young people.

His 1999 first feature, ‘The Child and The Soldier’, has won several national and international awards. In 2000 his second feature ‘Under the Moonlight’, dealing with social and religious issues won the Best Feature Award at the 40th Critics’ Week at the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival.

Three of his films have been presented by Iran for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar: ‘ So Close, So Far’, ‘A Cube of Sugar’ and his current feature, ‘Today’ Reza Mirkarimi has also sat on several international film festival juries.

Filmography (as director)
– 2000: Koodak va Sarbaz (The Child And The Soldier)
– 2001: Zir-e Noor-e Maah (Under The Moonlight)
– 2002: Inja Cheraghi Roshan Ast (Here Is A Shining Light)
– 2005: Kheili Dour, Kheili Nazdik (So Close, So Far)
– 2008: Be Hamin Sadegi (A Simple as That)
– 2011: Yek Habe Ghand (A Cube of Sugar)
– 2014: Emrooz (Today)

Short Films, Documentary and TV Series
– For Him (Short / 1987)
– A Rainy Day (Short / 1987)
– Rooster (Short / 1987)
– The Adventures of Mrs. Aziz (TV Series / 1996)
– Hemmat School Kids (TV Series 1997)
– Iranian Carpet (Documentary / 2006)

Awards
Film: Koodak va Sarbaz (The Child And The Soldier)
Honor Diploma for Best Director – Fajr International Film Festival 2000
Silver Baloon – Three Continents Festival 2000
Golden Shoe – Zlín Film Festival 2001

Film: Zir-e Noor-e Maah (Under The Moonlight)
Best Director Award tied with Gjergj Xhuvani for Slogans – Tokyo International Film Festival 2001
Special Jury Prize – Beirut International Film Festival 2001
Special Jury Prize – Tokyo International Film Festival 2001
Special Jury Award – Fajr International Film Festival 2001
Critics Week Grand Prize – Cannes Film Festival 2001
Silver Peacock Special Prize of Jury – Delhi International Film Festival 2002

Film: Inja Cheraghi Roshan Ast (Here Is A Shining Light)
Best Screenplay – Asia-Pacific Film Festival 2002
Crystal Simorgh Best Director – Fajr International Film Festival 2003
Special Jury Prize – Bali International Film Festival 2004

Film: Kheili Dour, Kheili Nazdik (So Close, So Far)
Crystal Simorgh Best Film – National Competition, Fajr International Film Festival 2005
Best Film Award – Celebration House of Cinema 2005

Film: Be Hamin Sadegi (A Simple as That)
Golden St. George – 30th Moscow International Film Festival 2008
Russian Guild of Film Critics Award – International Competition, Moscow International Film Festival 2008
Crystal Simorgh Best Director – Fajr International Film Festival 2008
Crystal Simorgh Best Screenplay with Shadmehr Rastin – Competition of Asian Cinema, Fajr International Film Festival 2008
Crystal Simorgh Best Director – Competition of Asian Cinema, Fajr International Film Festival 2008
Crystal Simorgh Best Director – National Competition, Fajr International Film Festival 2008

Film: Yek Habe Ghand (A Cube of Sugar)
Special Jury Prize – Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema 2012
Best Film – Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema 2013

Film: Emrooz (Today)
Best Film Award Rabat International Film Festival 2014

Sources: Wikipedia | Reza Mirkarimi, Internet Movie Data Base | Reza Mirkarimi

Safi Yazdanian, born 1960 in Tehran, is an Iranian film director, writer, translator and film critic. He graduated in Theater and Cinema Studies in 1988, starting his career as a reviewer and columnist in Iranian magazines.

In 1995 he ventured into filmmaking. His earliest films, documentaries and shorts, include:
– In search of Scheherazade (Dar jostojouy-e shahrzad, 2002) with Leila Hatami as narrator
– My boats (Ghayegh-ha-ye man, 35mm, 2005), with Ali Mosaffa as Farhad, was Yazdanian’s first short fiction. It won the Best Film Award at Tehran’s International Short Film Festival
– Entracte, 2009.

Yazdanian’s feature directorial debut was 2014 with What’s the time in your world? (Dar donya-ye to saát chand ast?). The movie premiered at the 19th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF 2014) and was honored with the FIPRESCI (Federation Internationale de la Press Cinematographique) Award.

Besides directing he also edited Nahid Reazaei’s documentaries The water and Atefeh (Ab va Atefeh, 2001) and Dream of silk (Khab-e abrisham, 2003) and wrote together with Ali Mosaffa Mosaffa’s first feature film Portrait of a lady far away (Sima-ye zani dar doordast).

Sources: IRNA | News, FIPRESCI | People | Safi Yazdanian, Festival Scope | Director | Yazdanian, Safi, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam | Industry, Clermont International Short Film Festival | Safi Yazdanian , Cinéma du Réel | Archives | Ab va Atefeh, Cinéma du Réel | Archives | Khab-e abrisham, IMDb | Portrait of a Lady Far Away, Guest List 2014 Busan International Film Festival (PDF), BIFF | History | 19th (2014) | Safi Yazdanian

The Fish and I is an Iranian short film directed, written and acted by Babak Habibifar that recounts the story of a blind man trying to save his fish. The film has won several international honors.

Awards
– Special Audience Award; 12th CLAM International Film Festival of Solidarity in Navarcles, Spain (May, 2015)
– Best Short Film; 6th Skepto International Film Festival in Cagliari, Italy (April, 2015)
– Honorable Mention; 11th Rengo International Film Festival, Rengo, Chile (February 2015)
– Special Jury Mention, Young Jury Prize for the Best International Short Film and Mediterranean Diet Award (a cash prize dedicated by a Spanish Institution); 16th International Short Film Festival “City of Soria” in Soria, Spain (November, 2014)
– Jury Grand Prize and Audience Award; Short Short Story Film Festival in Providence, USA (November, 2014)
– Most Original Film; Uhvati Film Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia (September, 2014)

About Babak Habibifar
Babak Habibifar is an Iranian writer and director. His short fictions include The Fish and I (2014), After seventeen hours (2013), Somewhere up there (2013) and After fifteen years (also known as Crossword puzzle, 2012). This last film was highlighted by the Jury at the 2013 Strawberry Shorts Film Festival in Cambridge, England. Besides directing, Habibifar has worked as an actor and is also a gifted photographer, having won several photography awards in national competitions.

Sources: Mehr News Agency | News, Art Film Festival | Portfolio | Babak Habibifar, Green Film Festival in Seoul | The Fish and I, NacióDigital.cat | CLAM Festival, Skepto International Film Festival 2015 | Awards and Special Mentions, Rengo International Film Festival, Heraldo.es | Noticias, Press TV | News, Merging Arts Productions | SSS Film Festival, Uhvati Film Festival | Awards, The House of Films | News

Iran’s 5th International Urban Film Festival is running from May 24 to June 2 in eleven movie theaters across Tehran.

More than 360 productions will take part in this year’s national and international competition sections, presenting short and feature-length films, as well as documentaries and animations from Iran, China, Egypt, the US, Britain, Palestine, Switzerland, Italy, Serbia and other countries.

The festival is also holding filmmaking, cinematography and scriptwriting workshops for cinema enthusiasts of all ages.

International cineastes Krzysztof Zanussi, Dina Iordanova, Deborah Young and Caroline Otto are scheduled to hold several master classes at the Mellat Cinema Complex during the 5th International Urban Film Festival.

Zanussi, 76, is a renowned Polish filmmaker and screenwriter. Zanussi, whose work was noticed during his activities in the amateur film movement in the 1950s and 1960s, is also a professor at the Silesian University in Katowice.

Iordanova, a professor of film studies at University of St Andrews, focuses on transnational cinema, global film industries and film festivals, as well as on Eastern European and Balkan cinema.

American film critic Young is an editor of the Hollywood Reporter, and Film Comment Magazine. Based in Rome, Italy, she has reviewed films from around the world since the 1990’s, when she was appointed Rome bureau chief for Variety.

Active as a screenwriter and director Otto is a member of the Federation of Scriptwriters in Europe (FSE). She was also the head of the script funding commission of the German film board during 2009-2013.

Sources: Press TV | News, Tehran Times | News

Iranian filmmaker Reza Fahimi’s Cloudy Children emerged as the big winner at the Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia (SSFF & ASIA) 2015, receiving the Grand Prix of the event that was held in Tokyo and Yokohama from June 4 to 14.

Set in a central Iranian village, the film narrates the story of two students fighting over things that they could never have, and in the end they share everything that does not belong to them.

In 2004, the festival was officially accredited by the Academy Awards, making the festival Grand Prix winner eligible for nomination in the short film category of the academy.

About Reza Fahimi
Reza Fahimi, born 1987 in Iran, is a scriptwriter and a director. He studied filmmaking at the Soore Art University of Tehran, with Directing as a major. Cloudy Children is his second short film. It was awarded Best Film, Best Direction (Fiction Film) and Best Screenplay at Tehran International Short Film Festival, 2014, Iran.

Sources: Tehran Times | News, shortshorts.org | Program 2015 | Cloudy Children, tehranisff.ir | 31st TISFF Announces Winners in National Competition Section

A portrait of the acclaimed Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya is displayed besides 15 international figures at a multimedia exhibition titled ‘The Transformative Power of Art’ at the UN Exhibits in New York. The exhibition features sculptures and large fresco portraits of artists who have stood up for human rights.

Motamed-Arya, 54, is involved in humanitarian activities and helps raise funds for different charities. Her latest gesture is putting up her Crystal Simorgh award, presented to her for the role of best actress in ‘Gilaneh’ in 2005, on sale to support people deprived of a home in Iran. She has been nominated nine times for the best actress award at the Fajr International Film Festival and won the Crystal Simorgh four times. She had a role in Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’ celebrated film ‘The Tales’ and played the lead character in ‘Nabaat’, Azerbaijan’s nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film in the 2014 Academy Awards.

The objective of the exhibition – curated by painter and sculptor Fabrizio Ruggiero – is to demonstrate that art creates bridges where politics divide. It takes place under the United Nations “2015: Time for Global Action” campaign, primarily destined to raise awareness about climate change and our fragile ecosystems.

The sculptures are made of many natural elements and the 16 accompanying portraits represent people from all continents who, during their lifetime, contributed to the common good of humanity in one way or another and have transformed the way we think. The men and women who are represented never lost sight of the most vulnerable.

They are: Pierre-Claver Akendengué (Gabon), Maya Angelou (USA), Joan Baez (USA), Audrey Hepburn (UK), Vassily Kandinsky (Russia), Umm Kulthum (Egypt), Gong Li (China), Miriam Makeba (South Africa), Edgar Morin (France), Fatemeh Motamed-Arya (Iran), Okot p’Bitek (Uganda), Satyajit Ray (India), Sebastião Salgado (Brazil), Wole Soyinka (Nigeria), Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (Kenya), and Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan).

Sources: IRNA | News, United Nations | News

Il Cinema Ritrovato, an Italian festival dedicated to screening newly restored classics running in Bologna until July 4, is showing four Iranian films from the Iranian New Wave cinema. The program is curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht in collaboration with the National Film Archive of Iran.

The black comedy “Night of the Hunchback” (1965) directed by Farrokh Ghaffari, set over the course of one night against a backdrop of uptown Tehran partying to Ray Charles, focuses on the efforts of a group of stage actors, the father of a bride, and a hairdresser and his assistant (played by Ghaffari himself) to rid themselves of an unwelcome corpse.

The satirical documentary “The Night It Rained or The Epic of the Gorgan Village Boy” (1967) directed by Kamran Shirdel, offers a crash course in 1960s Iran. A newspaper story of a heroic village boy who prevented a train disaster appears and spreads quickly. The incident, reported on and challenged by local officials and journalists, is soon doubted and leads ultimately to confusion, with nobody knowing exactly who has saved whom.

“The Cow” (1969) by Dariush Mehrjuii, which is considered as the milestone of Iranian new wave cinema, tells the story of a poor villager whose only source of joy and livelihood is his cow, which provides milk for the village. One night the cow is mysteriously killed and that’s when the madness, or rather transformation, begins.

“A Simple Event” (1973) by Sohrab Shahid Saless depicts a few days in the life of a young boy living by the Caspian Sea. At school he falls behind his classmates and is almost expelled. He helps his father to fish illegally, and at home watches as his mother’s health deteriorates.

About Iranian New Wave
Iranian New Wave cinema came about as a reaction to the popular cinema of the time which did not reflect the lives of regular Iranians. It began in 1969 and then ended with the beginning of the Iranian revolution in 1979. The films produced were original, artistic and political. The House Is Black by Forough Farrokhzad (1963) is considered to be a precursor to the New Wave cinema. Other films such as Farrokh Ghaffari’s “The Night Of The Hunchback” (1964), Abrahim Golestan’s, “Mud-Brick And Mirror” (1965), and Ferydoon Rahnema’s “Siavush in Persepolis” are all considered to be precursors as well. The first film considered to be part of this movement is Darius Mehrjui’s “The Cow” (1969). Other films considered to be part of this movement are Naser Taqvai’s “Peace in the Presence of Others” (1969/1972), which was banned and then heavily censored upon its release, and Sohrab Shahid Saless’ “A Simple Event” (1973) and “Still Life” (1974).

Sources: Tehran Times | News, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Wikipedia | Iranian New Wave

London Iranian Film Festival is the only annual festival to present Iranian cinema in the UK.  The festival aims to introduce the international community to the best of Iranian cinema.

Screenings: 3 Movies, 1 Ticket (Melbourne, I’m Not Angry, 360 Degrees)
Date: Saturday 1st August
Time: 14:00- 21:00
Venue: Greenwood Theatre, King’s Venues, London, 55 Weston Street, London

Tickets are £18 if purchased in advance or £25 on the door (for all three screenings) and can be purchased at: http://www.ukiff.org.uk/

More info about Iranian cinema and successful movies: The other Iran | Cinema

More posts about Iranian Cinema: click here

The 4th Persian Film Festival is on from September 3rd to 6th at Palace Norton Street Cinemas, showcasing the best of Iranian cinema and the Persian speaking world. Over four days the festival offers its viewers a great line-up of 22 films including features, documentaries, short films and animations, and Q&A sessions with filmmakers from Iran, USA and Australia.

The festival is hosting a free screening of a number of award winning short films and animations from across Iran and from Iranian filmmakers in Australia, including the screening of Oscar nominated Simorgh by Meghdad Asadi, and current official selection at MIFF 2015 The Phoenix by Nora Nasiri, as well as, Sydney based filmmaker’s How Can Be Both by Saeed Sourati.

The displayed Movies and their directors are:

The President by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
A Few Cubic Meters of Love by Jamshid Mahmoudi
Block 9 Exit 2 by Alireza Amini
The Ride (Darbast) by Ali Khameparast Fard
I Want To Be A King by Mehdi Ganji
Impression-xps160 by Tiyam Yabandeh

Other films are:

Ranging in subject matter and style, the films offer short glimpses into contemporary and important social and cultural issues.

Opening Film: The President by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Other posts about Iranian cinema and its stars: click here

Sources: Persian Film Festival, Persian Film Festival | Free sessions, Persian Film Festival | Directors, Persian Film Festival | Movies

Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 2014, Georgia, /France/UK/Germany, 105 minutes,
Cast: Misha Gomiashvili, Dachi Orvelashvili
Festivals: Venice Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival

More info about director Mohsen Makhmalbaf: click here

Plot: In an imaginary village in the Caucasus, a President is on the run with his five-year-old grandson following a coup d’état. The two travel across the lands that the President once governed. Now, disguised as a street musician to avoid being recognized, the former dictator comes into contact with his people, and gets to know them from a different point of view.

The President and his family rule their land with an iron fist, enjoying lives of luxury and leisure at the expense of their population’s misery. When a coup d’état overthrows his brutal rule and the rest of his family flees the country by plane, The President is suddenly left to care for his young grandson and forced to escape. Now the country’s most wanted fugitive with a bounty on his head, The President begins a perilous journey with the boy, criss-crossing the country to reach the sea where a ship waits to bring them to safety. Posing as street musicians and traveling together with the people who suffered for years under the dictatorship, the fallen President and the innocent child will be exposed first hand to the hardships that inspired unanimous hatred for the regime.

Trailer:

Sources: http://www.iranianfilmfestival.org/all-date-list/the-president/ , Youtube

Director: Pouria Heidary Oureh, 2015, Iran, 83 minutes,
Cast: Gohar Kheirandish [in person], Asghar Farhadi, Leila Hatami, Ezzatollah Entezami, Niki Karimi, Tahmineh Milani, Bahram Radan, Mahnaz Afshar, Ebrahim Hatamikai, Bahman Farmanara, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Kianush Ayyari…

Plot:
Gohar Kheirandish, the legendary stage and screen actress was born in 1954 in Shiraz, Iran. She started her acting career with a theatrical group in Shiraz while still in high school, where she also met her future husband, Jamshid Esmailkhani, who was active in theater. During this period, she was working for the Department of Art and Culture in Shiraz. In 1978 she was accepted to the University of Tehran when she and her husband and children moved to Tehran in order for her to pursue her education. She later graduated from the College of Arts. While in university, she started acting in theater, television and cinema. Her first film was Days of Waiting. Her film career spans more than two decades with such notable films as: Banoo [Lady] (1999), The Mix (2000), Low Heights (2002), Donya [World] (2003), The Fifth Reaction (2003), Tradition of Lover Killing (2004), Maxx (2005), Ghaedeye Bazi (2007), Shirin (2008), Tehran 1500 (2013), Azar, Shahdokht, Parviz and Others (2014), Iran Burger (2015).

She has won many awards including: Best Actress for Tradition of Lover Killing at Fajr Film Festival, Best Actress for Low Heights by Iranian Writers and Film Critics as well as Fajr Film Festival, Best Actress for The Fifth Reaction by House of Cinema…

About Pouria Heidary Oureh:
Pouria Heidary Oureh was born in Tehran in 1984. He is a digital filmmaking graduate from SAE Institute in Dubai. He started his professional career in the cinema in 2008. With his first short film Beyond the Dead End, he attended 28 international festivals and won 12 awards. His second short film Hypothesis of Social Learning dealt with the negative effects of watching the hanging in the public on the children, and it was praised by University of Hamburg and Amnesty International, and then attended other festivals.

Gohar Kheirandish filmography is Pouria Heidary Oureh’s first feature length documentary, and he is now making his first feature film in Armenia.

Source: iranianfilmfestival | A Tribute to Gohar Kheirandish