Art House

COPPER NOTES OF A WISH by Reza FARAHMAND

Line Up 2019

Original Title: نت های مسی یک رویا / Nothay-e- Mesi Yek Arezu
Type: Feature Documentary l Social l Children Women Issue l War

Running Time:90 min
Aspect Ratio: 16.9
Resolution: 1920/ 10.80
Original version:  Arabic
Subtitled in English
Screening format: DCP, Blu-Ray
Sound: 5.1
Year:  2019

Remarkable , daring and highly original film about Children Power in bringing happiness and changes into the life After the War .
Logline : Childhood and happiness are great and sacred concepts. Even war,  cannot destroy these profound and holy words.

Malook, his mother, his sister and a few of his friends are among the survivors of the civil war in Syria. The ten year old Malook who’s thirsty to boss around the remaining other children, together with his friends collect copper from destroyed houses and earn a living off of their sales. Among all the destruction and rubbles and big question marks over the uncertain future, hope and happiness gush out of the debris.Malook and his fourteen year old sister wish to become musicians and attempt to hold a concert in the wrecked stadium. Malook believes he can do whatever he puts his mind to

Director’s Motivation:With the heavy load of the rough filmmaking experiences in Iraq during the war with ISIS, this time I go to Yarmouk in Syria which deems a place out of this world. Amidst the unfathomable scale of destruction, it feels as if I can’t free myself of the echoes of thousands of lost lives. And I remain gazed without being able to move. Suddenly, a rustling sound from within the rubbles switches my camera on and while I’m still astounded, the voices of exhausted but alive children takes me to the world of wishful kids who in longing to return to their once solid homes, search for a ballad to remind them of the sweet smell of life.

Director’s Statement :Destruction is the product of war. Bombardments and shelling demolish cities and villages like frenzied flood.My camera and I follow the children, become playmates with them and learn lyrics from each other. With these songs we grow two wings and forget that it rains bullets here. We fly and reach a point where one voice is heard and that is a grandmother who whispers her songs for us.

Sparrows l Des Hirondelles by Caroline Emery

Line Up 2019

Original Title: Des Hirondelles
Type:  Documentary l Social l Children l  Women Issue l Rape

Running Time: 40  min
Flat : 1.85
Aspect Ratio: 1.33 ( the projectionist had to put wipe on left and right)
Resolution: 2K      1920/ 1080
Original version:  French – Farsi
Subtitled in English  & French
Screening format: DCP, Blu-Ray
Sound: 5.1
Year:  2019

Remarkable , daring and highly original film about Children in Rape.

 Logline :Sparrows  is Two story of two rapes! , one in Iran one in France, are echoing each other.

Two little girls had to face alone a male violence of which they knew nothing.

Synopsis in English :

Sparrows  is Two story of two rapes! , one in Iran one in France, are echoing each other.Two little girls had to face alone a male violence of which they knew nothing.
Nasreen in Tehran : When she was thirteen, she was married in spite of her reluctance to a twenty years older man whom she did not want. She tells her resistance to this marriage, her wedding night, the birth of her two children and how she never stopped thinking leaving her husband until the day she succeeded. In 1972, the year Nasreen was born, Caroline was six years old.
Caroline in Paris.In the midst of a happy childhood, if one can say childhood is a happy moment in life, when she was eight, Caroline was raped by a great uncle. She tells about her childhood, her rape and how she knew right away that she would not keep the secret as her great uncle asked her to, and about the visons and nightmares that ensued.
This documentary summons the memories and the ghosts of a common suffering, intertwining the two stories each one in an urban scenery where the representations of sexuality are totally opposed, with filmed sequences, photos and paintings made by Caroline and inspired by what she saw in Iran, and by her nightmares and her memories.
In spite of these tragedies, life goes on for Nasreen and Caroline, who cling to life’s little moments of happiness. With this film, they break the silence and hope to get other girls to do the same.

French Synopsis :

Deux histoires de viols, l’une en Iran et l’autre en France, se font écho.Deux petites filles durent affronter, seules, une violence masculine dont elles ne savaient rien.
Nasreen à Téhéran : malgré sa résistance, elle a été mariée à 13 ans avec un homme de 20 ans de plus qu’elle, dont elle ne voulait pas. Elle raconte son refus, sa nuit de noces, la naissance de ses deux enfants et comment elle n’a jamais cessé de penser à quitter son mari jusqu’au jour où elle y réussit.1972, l’année de naissance de Nasreen, Caroline a 6 ans.
Caroline à Paris :au milieu d’une enfance heureuse, si on peut parler d’enfance heureuse, à 8 ans, elle a été violée par un de ses grands oncles.Elle raconte son enfance, son viol et comment elle a tout de suite su qu’elle ne garderait pas le secret comme son grand-oncle le lui demandait. Elle raconte les visions et les cauchemars qui s’en suivent.
Ce documentaire convoque les fantômes d’une souffrance commune en entrecroisant les deux histoires chacune dans un décor de ville où la sexualité est représentée de façon diamétralement opposée,  avec des séquences filmées, des photos et des peintures inspirées de ce qu’elle a vu en Iran, de ses cauchemars et de ses souvenirs.
Malgré ces drames, Nasreen et Caroline continuent à vivre en se raccrochant à des petits bonheurs de la vie.  Avec ce film, elles brisent le silence et espère bien amener d’autres filles à le faire.

Director’s Motivation:

English :After « Tongue play » (2003), creative documentary produced by le GREC, this film, « Sparrows », is, once again, a story about women,It begins with a personal drama, a rape by a great uncle when I was eight years old. This event influenced my life, my vision on the world, and my artistic choices. I never dared to make a movie about this incest which was imposed on me, but now I realize that « Tongue play », where Louise, a Gabonese girl, relates a love affair, contains the first fruits of this new film.  I lived four years in Tehran. Nasreen looked after my three children.One day in the kitchen, Nasreen confides to me. She tells about her forced marriage when she was 13 with a man 20 years older. I then tell her my own story.The emotion that the confession of Nasreen the Iranian aroused in me made me see the possibility to engrave my story in an artistic act, at the crossroads of the violences we both had to endure. This sharing of experience with somebody whose history and culture were at first sight so far away from my own gave me the necessary distance.Nasreen agreed that I relate her story provided that I relate my own too.So this is how we gave each other the courage to break the silence and passivity.The fear and disgust Nasreen and I had to live are very close. In spite of the differences between our countries, in their mores and their ways of living the sexuality, the wound remains the same…It might be a widespread cultural practice, it might be legal or not, but any sexual violence on a child will arouse in him lack of understanding and disgust, terror and extreme solitude.To get closer to this emotion buried since childhood, I blended three matters : the scenes shot with Nasreen, the paintings I painted, and family archive photos mixed with photos I took in Iran and in France.The naïve style in the paintings gives me a distance to address difficult things and it is a reminiscence of the little girl’s vision, the little girl I was then, who didn’t have a clue on how to analyse what happened to her. Some paintings are inspired by my nightmares, other by scenes I witnessed in Tehran, or by Persian miniatures which give a tale taint to the narrative.The pictures are the link between the paintings and the film. The archive and city pictures help to perceive the differences between Iran and France in their representation of women and of sexuality.The film structure is dertermined by Nasreen who consented to confide in front of the camera. I didn’t have that much courage and I prefered to tell my story off camera, assuming my presence by my paintings and my film.The recent worldwide wave of public disclosure of rapes and sexual harassment gives a new relevance to my film amongst the festivals.
French :Après « Tire langue » (2003), documentaire de création produit par le GREC, ce film  « Des hirondelles » est, de nouveau, une histoire de femmes :Je pars d’un drame personnel, le viol dont j’ai été victime à 8 ans par un grand-oncle. Cet événement a influé sur ma vie, mon regard sur le monde et mes choix artistiques. Je n’avais jamais osé faire un film sur cet inceste dont j’avais été victime mais je me rend compte aujourd’hui que « Tire langue », où Louise, la Gabonaise, raconte une relation amoureuse, contenait les prémices de ce nouveau film. J’ai habité quatre ans à Téhéran. Nasreen gardait mes trois enfants.Un jour dans la cuisine, Nasreen se confie à moi. Elle me raconte son mariage forcé à 13 ans avec un homme de 20 ans son aîné. Je lui raconte à mon tour mon histoire.L’émotion suscitée par la confession de Nasreen l’Iranienne m’a fait entrevoir la possibilité d’inscrire mon histoire dans un acte artistique, au croisement des violences que nous avions subies elle et moi. Ce partage d’expérience avec quelqu’un dont l’histoire et la culture étaient a priori si éloignées de la mienne me permettait le recul nécessaire.Nasreen a accepté que je raconte son histoire, pourvu que je raconte aussi la mienne.Ainsi, nous nous sommes données mutuellement le courage de briser le silence et la passivité.La peur et le dégoût que Nasreen et moi avons vécus sont très proches. Malgré les différences de nos pays dans leurs mœurs et leurs façons de vivre la sexualité, la blessure est la même… Qu’il s’agisse d’une pratique culturelle répandue, qu’elle soit légale ou non, toute violence sexuelle sur un enfant suscitera chez lui incompréhension et dégoût, terreur et solitude extrême.Pour m’approcher de cette émotion enfouie dans l’enfance, j’ai mêlé trois matières : les scènes filmées avec Nasreen, les peintures que j’ai faites, et les photos d’archives familiales mêlées à celles que j’ai prises en Iran et en France.Dans la peinture, le style naïf me donne une distance pour aborder les choses difficiles et rappelle le regard de la petite fille que j’étais et qui n’avait pas les moyens d’analyser ce qui lui arrivait. Certaines peintures sont inspirées de mes cauchemars, d’autres de scènes auxquelles j’ai assisté lors de mon séjour à Téhéran, ou de miniatures persanes qui donnent l’aspect d’un conte à la narration. La photo fait le lien entre la peinture et le film. Les photos d’archives et de villes aident à percevoir les différences entre  Iran et France dans la représentation de la femme et celle de la sexualité.La structure du film est déterminée par Nasreen qui a accepté de se confier face caméra. Je n’ai pas eu le même courage, et j’ai préféré raconter en voix off, et assumer ma présence via mes peintures et mon film.L’actualité liée à la vague de révélations publiques de viols et de harcèlements apporte une nouvelle pertinence à mon film, et à sa présence dans les festivals.

BIOGRAPHY by Fatima SAGHAFI

Line Up 2018

Original Title:  Biography
Type: LGBT l Drama Fiction l Thriller l Social l Women Issue

Running Time: 75min
Film Gauge: Digital
Shooting Format: HD
Camera: Cannon 5D
Film Ratio: 16.9
Screening format: DCP, Blu-Ray
Sound: 5.1
Ratio: 16:9
Year: 2018

Rahele, 25 – girl – Iranian , has a trans brother who has permission to do an operation to change his sex, But They don’t have enough money . Saeed decide to leave Iran to have an easy life in a European Country. They have lost their mother and Raheleh , has just Saeed as family and doesn’t want to lose him,She decides to help Saeed. Rahele with her friend Ahmad,  tries to gain money and keep Saeeeid in Iran but there are lots of difficulties.
Producer  Note : Biography is a compelling, clever way to approach and edgy story — a really interesting nuance of Iranian culture. very forward thinking and the story structure worked well.

HOT SCENT by Ali EBRAHIMI

Line Up 2018
Original Title:  Atr-e-Dagh
Type:  Drama Fiction l Thriller l Social l Women Issue l Youth

Running Time:  83  min
Aspect Ratio:1:1.85
Resolution:2k
Film Rate :24fps
Original version:  Persian
Subtitled in English
Screening format: DCP, Blu-Ray
Sound: 5:1
Year: 2018

LIKE A WOMAN

Original Title : Maesle Yek Zan
Type : Feature Documentary / Political
Year: Completed Nov 2016( 2014 – Dec 2016 .. 2 years shooting )

Running Time:   73 min
Resolution:25
Original version:  Persian
Subtitled in English
Screening format: DCP, Blu-Ray
Sound: Surround 5.1
Ratio: 16:9

Faezeh Hahsemi  daughter of the Iran’s powerful president, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.​ is the most news making woman in the Islamic republic’s history. She was at first, only, known as the courageous daughter of the Iran’s powerful president, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. But quickly she became an independent character and turned into one of the most influential individuals in the world of politics in Iran  with her speeches about Baha’i in Iran and also with her protests against the election​ in Ahmadi Nejhad Time.​ Like A Woman is about Faezeh and her believes and her private life as daughter of Islamic President.

OUR FIRST CHILD by Ali KHODADADI

NEW FILM – LINE UP 2017
Original title: Kudak – e – Avale ma
Type: Documentary

Running time: 42 min
Original version: Persian
Subtitled :  in English
Screening format: DCP – Bluray
Sound: Digital stereo
Ratio: 16:9
Camera : Canon Film rate: 25 frames
Year: 2017

A middle-aged couple with autism succeed in getting married despite the limitations their families impose on them. Now they want to have a baby to give a new meaning to their past and present life, but they face problems and it delays their dream. They have to pay a great cost, and it turns the success of their marriage to a problem bigger than they had in the past. However, they are by no means willing to waive their dream, until some events happen that change their view about their future.

HOUSE OF PAPER by Mehdi SABAGHZAD’H

NEW FILM – LINE UP 2017

Original Title : Khane Kaghazi
Type : Drama – Social – Family

Running Time:    97min
Film Gauge:
Original version:  Persian
Subtitled in English
Screening format: DCP, Blu-Ray
Sound: 5.1
Ratio: 16:9
Year: 2017

A famous journalist who was out of job for a few years after being arrested, is living with his only daughter in Iran . She is also a journalist. Death of a writer returns an old love from abroad, making him write again .This time about the economy and its mafia .His daughter also tries to write about politics .But both become victims…