Films 2022

Programme

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Short films by Iranian women directors

Mask, Faranak, Iranian Bag, Shadow of the Fox, Report on a Termination, An Ordinary Ring, My Dark City

With panel discussion

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.

I Am Trying to Remember (Man saei mikonam faramoush nakonam) and Holy Bread (Nan-e moghadas)

Pegah remembers Gholam, a close friend of her family who suddenly disappeared in 1988, leaving a void.
br>The Kurdish Kulbar haul goods and loads over rocky, steep mountain paths of the Iranian border. Snowstorms and border police are their enemies.

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.