Visions of Iran 2022

Iranian Film Festival Cologne – 26. to 29.5.2022 at the Filmforum NRW Cologne

Finally back in the cinema! After two Corona emergency editions, “Visions of Iran” returns to Filmforum. From May 26 to 29, 2022, there are new visions from the fascinating cinema country Iran.

Many feature films circle the border between appearance and reality, past and present: actor Ali Mosaffa loses himself in the nostalgic and mysterious “Absence” in beautiful Prague. Mohsen Gharaei’s star-studded Dürrenmatt adaptation “Majority” comes across like a Sergio Leone Western. And in the visually haunting masterpiece “Careless Crime,” Shahram Mokri fuses the time of the revolution with the present. In Karim Lakzadeh’s fantasy road movie “The Great Leap” and Hossein Toghiry’s romantic drama “Light Year,” the protagonists are also caught up in the past.

In the documentary Pegah Ahangarani remembers the eighties (“I Try To Remember”), “Holy Bread” follows the Kurdish Kulbar load bearers, and “Woodgirls” accompanies two rebellious carpenters (directed by Azadeh Bizargiti). We discuss climate change and water mismanagement with environmental filmmaker Mohammad Ehsani (“Water Will Take Us”).

Ghasideh Golmakani has selected recent short films by female filmmakers. And in cooperation with the children’s and youth film festival “Cinepänz”, the beautiful “The Apple Day” by Mahmoud Ghaffari will be screened.

As guests we expect among others Hossein Toghiry, Mohsen Gharaei, Ghasideh Golmakani as well as the actors* Mahdieh Marzban (“Majority”) and Pedram Sharifi (“The Great Leap”, “Majority”). Ali Mosaffa and Mohammad Ehsani are in demand.

Festival Trailer

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Programme

Feature film, Thursday, 26.5.2022, 6.00 pm

Absence (Naboodan)

Rusbeh traces his father during a trip to Prague – a former communist who fled to what was then Czechoslovakia in the 1950s and worked there as an orientalist and translator. Conversations with old comrades, librarians, and waitresses lead him to doubt the family story, but one trail leads to Valdimir, who has fallen out of a window while in a coma.

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Documentary, Thursday, 26.5.2022, 8.30 pm

Woodgirls – A Duet for a Dream

Rascht, situated on the Caspian Sea, differs from other parts of the country in terms of climate, architecture and way of life. Here, the self-taught women Leila and Sedigheh dream of having their own carpentry workshop – this is a man’s job and is neither socially desirable nor is there even a licence for women.

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Feature film, Friday, 27.5.2022, 6.00 pm

Majority (Bi Hameh Chiz)

Lili returns to the run-down small town she had to leave twenty years ago. Now she wants to take revenge on Amir, her former lover, who left her pregnant back then because of the social pressure. Amir is a respected citizen and feels quite safe and untouchable.

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Feature film, Friday, 27.5.2022, 9.00 pm

Light Year (Saal-e Noori)

Sarah is drowning in old memories after the separation from her husband and seems to be falling behind in her personal development – but perhaps it is the beginning of a healing process of detachment. Toghiri’s second film tells the story of the failure of a great love from the retrospective of the most beautiful, most painful, most significant stages, in his very own style.

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Feature film, Saturday, 28.5.2022, 4.00 pm

The Apple Day (Rooz-e sib)

Mahdi, his older brother Saeed and their father sell beautiful red apples in the streets of a Tehran suburb. At home, the boys’ mother earns her money by washing clothes. When the father’s truck is stolen, the small family’s livelihood is threatened.

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Feature film, Saturday, 28.5.2022, 6.00 pm

The Great Leap (Shirjeh-Ye Bozorg)

Maryam learns that her son, thought lost, is still alive. He was raised by a notorious showman and vaudeville performer. With a group of acrobats and outsiders, the young woman sets out on a search and encounters charlatans, mischief-makers and shamans along the way.

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With panel discussion
Documentary, Sunday, 29.5.2022, 3.00 pm

Water Will Take Us (Ab Ma Ra Khahad Bord)

Award-winning environmental filmmaker Mohammad Ehsani’s Water Will Take Us shows the impact of climate change, water mismanagement and the 2019 floods on Iranian civil society.

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Feature film, Sunday, 29.5.2022, 7.00 pm

Careless Crime (Jenayat-e bi deghat)

Four men want to make a statement and set fire to a cinema. Just like 40 years ago, when 422 spectators died in the flames during the infamous attack on the “Abadan Rex” in the south of the country.

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