Iranian Film Festival (IFF) is an annual event showcasing the independent feature and short films made by or about the Iranians from around the world.
Kill The Messenger (Une femme A Abattre)
Running Time: 84 minutes
Country: France
Cast: Sibel Edmonds
Directors: Mathieu Verboud & Jean Robert Villet
A few days after the 9/11 attacks, Sibel Edmonds, 32, an American woman of Turkish/Iranian origin, was recruited by the FBI as a language specialist with top-security clearance. Her job was to translate counter-intelligence wiretaps related to ongoing criminal investigations. After two months, Edmonds reported serious wrongdoings in the conduct of investigations and a case of espionage within her unit. Her claims weren’t taken seriously. In March 2002, she was fired from the FBI, physically escorted from the building, and warned, “Don’t talk!” A tense real-life thriller, Kill the Messenger explores the abuses behind the State Secrets Privilege, and shows the persecution of other US national security whistle blowers.
Iran: Behind the Walls
Running Time: 45 minutes
Country: Turkey/Iran
Cast: Fatma Mutemedarya, Pouran Derakhshandeh, Münire Ravanipur, Azem Talegani, Fatemeh Ashrafi, Mahla Zamani, Rafat Bayat, Suheyla Culodarzade, Nefiseh Hajhosemi, Haideh Zarrinbal, Firouzeh Mohamad Tamani, Lily Wanshidiad, Ferzaneh Hemeti
Director: Hakan Tokyay
In Iran women are the key to the transformation of the country. Women played an influential role in the downfall of the Shah in 1979 and the rise to power of Muhammad Khatemi. After Khatemi became president, discussions in the media started an ongoing debate on dress code, the chador, punishments for criminals such as diyet and rajm, polygamy, the muta (short-term) marriage, women’s abilities to become judges, women’s right to divorce, their visibility in the cinema, television and the media. Women claimed that the culture of patriarchy rather than religion kept women under pressure. Where do Iranian women stand vis a vis religious authorities and pro-freedom intellectuals?
The Shade (Sayeh)
Running Time: 11 minutes
Country: Iran/Canada
Cast: Aryan Atri, Camyar Chai, Joleh Chaichian, Shaghayegh Mohammadali
Director: Mohammad Gorjestani
In a village in central Iran on a hot summer day a young boy sells balloons
in hopes of buying ice cream. His struggle is paralleled with a city man, whose car blows a tire, causing him to search for a way back home. The two stories, though independent to themselves, are united by an umbrella, which shades each character’s journey.
Zero Degree (Darjeh Sefr)
Running Time: 8 minutes
Country: Iran
Genre: Animation
Director: Omid Khoshnazar
Because of his villain act, a soldier is captured in the camera cadre. He kills a man, and the camera wants to take revenge.
Faces on the Wall (Les Murs ont des Visages)
Running Time: 62 minutes
Country: Iran/France
Genre: Documentary
Directors: Bijan Anquetil & Paul Costes
All three Dastvaré children were killed during the Iran-Iraq War. The Islamic Republic of Iran had a mural painted in their memory. A fresco which, among hundreds of others in Tehran, represents these young soldiers who sacrificed their lives, in the name of God, for their country, dying as “martyrs of Islam.” Today, in their neighbourhood, the legend of the “Dastvaré martyrs” still circulates, a complex mix of popular religion, State propaganda and personal memories. The Faces on the Wall questions the disillusion that surrounds an ideology based on the martyr’s figure, the founding myth of the Iranian new regime.
Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age
Running Time: 56 minutes
Country: USA
Director: Glenn Baker
[In Attendance: Tissa Hami]
Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is the story of Ahmed Ahmed, Maysoon Zayid, Dean Obeidallah, Azhar Usman, and Iranian comic, Tissa Hami. Arabs and Muslims - and Americans all, and how each is responding to 9/11 in a different way. These comics face challenges from both mainstream America and within the Muslim community. All are at critical points in their careers, each evolving differently as a comic. But they are all striving for one thing: to break through the typecasting and achieve mainstream comedy success. Because above all, Stand Up is an American story, which means anything is fair game for a laugh.
Yazd
Running Time: 53 minutes
Country: Germany/Iran
Director: Thomas Wartmann
Yazd, is in central Iran. Due to its unforgiving location at the crossroads of two deserts, Yazd is exposed to an especially hard climate. The extreme heat of summer and bitter-cold winters, typical of the Iranian highland, require a hearty architecture able to withstand such conditions. The roof-covered Bazaars are reminiscent of a past era- when Marco Polo (13th century) traversed Yazd during his many journeys along the southern silk road. Famous for its production of carpets, Polo himself honoured this city by referring to Yazd as “The Noble One.”
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