I love film festivals. The weekend I chose to be in Melbourne, the Iranian Film festival just happened to be on. As my loyal readers will know, I have a penchant for Iranian films – Rhino Season, Manuscripts Don’t Burn, Crimson Gold, The Past, A Separation, Radio Dreams, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. And at festivals you end up seeing films you know nothing about, that will probably never get a release in Australia. A risk, yes, but a risk worth taking for this surprising film that I chose only because of its time slot and the beautiful B&W image above. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Iran
A Dragon Arrives! (2016)
Standard
I have no idea what this Iranian film is about. It’s stylish, unconventional and full of beautiful moments and promise but ultimately I felt I was missing out on a cultural context that may have made sense of the story. It begins as a drama with a man, Babak, recounting to an investigator the events that had led up to that moment. We then see the events unfold; he is sent to make a report on a man who has killed himself on the island of Qeshm. He was an ‘exile’ living alone in a derelict boat in the middle of a desert cemetery and Babak can see that he was murdered. His investigations begin to reveal surreal and confusing facts. Continue reading
Starless Dreams (2016)
Standard
This is a beautifully made Iranian documentary that immerses itself in the lives of teenagers in a ‘rehabilitation and correction’ centre, which seems to be a cross between a juvenile justice centre and a refuge. With no narration, we see these young women establish lives and friendships in the centre and slowly hear their individual stories. Continue reading
Radio Dreams (2016)
Standard
My favourite film of the festival so far. Not quite a 5 star but a solid 4.5. This sweet, deadpan, gorgeously rendered exploration of cultural displacement is set in an Iranian radio station in San Francisco. The band Metallica has promised to call in to jam with Afghani band Kabul Dreams; Mr Royani, the wild-haired director of programming sees it as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation in the aftermath of 9/11. Continue reading
The Salesman (2016)
Standard
Having expectations is always a risk. This is the drama from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and I loved his last two features – A Separation and The Past. He builds a great story, showing us contemporary Iranian life through the eyes of engaging and totally believable characters. Continue reading
Sonita (2015)
Standard
I couldn’t pass up this Iranian documentary about a young Afghan girl in Tehran, battling her family’s conservative plans to achieve her dream of being a rapper. In many ways it is like As I Open My Eyes made real. Sonita Alizadeh, like Farah in that movie, is young and idealistic, channeling her anger at the injustice she sees all around her into her song lyrics. For her it is the limitations placed on her as a young woman, destined to be married off by her Afghani family for a bride price, like so many other teenagers, and forbidden from performing. Continue reading
Under the Shadow (2016)
Standard
I’m still thinking about this Iranian horror. It wasn’t a genre I knew about before A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night entered my life – my favourite film of last year. There are similarities between these two films, not stylistically but in their feminist subtext, although Girl delivers it much more subtly. And Under the Shadow is much more scary. I returned to my apartment afterwards and the quiet stairs and long corridors seemed disconcertingly like a carpeted version of the apartment block in the film. Continue reading
Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013)
StandardEvery now and then I watch a film that packs such an emotional punch that I am left feeling devastated as the credits roll. In the past year, there have been a few – The Lobster, Dogtooth, Magical Girl, Rhino Season and The Past are some that come to mind – and last night Manuscripts Don’t Burn was added to that list. That three of these films are from Iran is not coincidental, I think. Manuscripts Don’t Burn is a riveting and unvarnished indictment of the politics of today’s Iran. Continue reading
Melbourne (2014)
StandardI think this is my favourite Iranian film of the Festival. I have seen three – Tales, Tehran Taxi and this. Tales had some good moments but Melbourne is a nicely constructed debut feature film that keeps you considerably uncomfortable throughout. Continue reading
Tehran Taxi (2015)
StandardI almost liked this Iranian film. I wanted to like it. Jafar Panahi directed a couple of films I really liked – Crimson Gold and The White Balloon. In this one, he is in the centre of the story, playing himself and driving a taxi whilst filming. It is set up as if it is a documentary but it’s obvious that it is fictional and his passengers are (reportedly non-professional and uncredited) actors. It works well at the start, with a rough and authentic feel as people hop in and out, talking and arguing with each other. A man jumps in who recognises Panahi and so we realise who he is and that this is a docudrama. Continue reading
fillums 