UCLA Film & Television Archive presents

19th ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF IRANIAN CINEMA
Saturday, January 31 – Saturday, February 21
The Archive's annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema returns and our program this year is as eclectic and diverse as ever.  This year's offerings include six new features from Iran and the Diaspora, as well as compelling new documentary and short works on film and video.

*All films are in Persian with English subtitles, unless otherwise noted.


Saturday, January 31
7:30 p.m.
LONELY TUNES OF TEHRAN  (Taraneh Tanhaiye Tehran)
Iran/France, 2008



PROD/DIR/SCR: Saman Salour.  CINE: Touraj Aslani.  EDIT: S. Salour, Arezou Arznanesh.  CAST: Behrouz Jalili, Hamid Habibifar, Mojtaba Bitarafan, Mohammad Fassihi, Maryam Sabaghian.
This bittersweet comedy centers on a mismatched pair of cousins—the combative Hamid and his cousin Behrooz, a nerve-shattered war vet—who eke out a living installing illegal satellite dishes in Tehran.  Director Saman Salour strikes a perfect balance between the poignant and the absurd as Hamid and Behrooz bring the world via satellite to their wealthy customers and find their own dreams forever out of reach.
DigiBeta, 75 min.


Monday, February 2
7:30 p.m.
AMONG THE CLOUDS  
2008



DIR: Rouhollah Hejazi.  PROD: Saeeid Saadi.  SCR: Mohammad Reza Gohari.  CINE: Farshad Mohammadi.  EDIT: Sepideh Abdolvahab.  CAST: Elnaz Shakerdoost, Younes Ghazali, Reza Mokhtari, Malek Seraj.
At a checkpoint on the Iran-Iraq border, 16-year-old Malek earns extra money pushing luggage for tourists and religious pilgrims.  When he innocently woos a young woman who crosses frequently, Malek finds himself caught up in a criminal conspiracy spanning both countries.  For this genre-bending teen romance-come-international thriller, director Hejazi won best debut feature at the Fajr Film Festival.
35mm, in Persian and Arabic with English subtitles, 83 min.
 

Sunday, February 8
7 p.m.
A LIGHT IN THE FOG  (Cheraghi dar meh)
2008

DIR/EDIT: Panahbarkhoda Rezaee.  PROD: Mahmoud Fallah.  SCR: Hossein Saberi.  CINE: Ali Muhammad Ghasemi.  CAST: Parivash Nazariyeh, Massoud Heshmat, Behrouz Jalili.
In a mountain village, Rana cares for her ailing father while waiting against hope for the return of her husband who disappeared years before in the Iran-Iraq War.  When a local bachelor proposes marriage, Rana must finally confront the depth of her grief.  Marked by stunning compositions of fog-shrouded rural landscapes and a meditative pace, A Light in the Fog is a poetic exploration of solitude and loss.
35mm, 75 min.
  

UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hammer Museum present

Tuesday, February 10  /  *FREE Admission!
7 p.m.
WOMEN IN SHROUD
Iran/Canada, 2009



DIR: Farid Haerinejad, Mohammad Reza Kazemi.
This documentary film, directed by Farid Haerinejad and Mohammad Reza Kazemi, follows a dedicated group of Iranian lawyers and activists working together to counter the injustice of the death penalty.  The screening is a part of the Sundance Works in Progress series, which provides an opportunity for filmmakers and viewers to explore the creative process and examine the issues addressed in the film.
Beta SX, 70 min.


Friday, February 13
7:30 p.m.
THE SONG OF SPARROWS  (Avaz-e gonjeshk-ha)
2008

PROD/DIR: Majid Majidi.  SCR: M. Majidi, Mehran Kashani.  CINE: Tooraj Mansoouri.  EDIT: Hassan Hassandoost.  CAST: Reza Naji, Maryam Akbari, Kamran Dehghan, Hamed Aghazi, Shabnam Aklaghi.
After Karim loses his job as an ostrich farmer, a twist of fate finds him making more money as a taxi driver in the big city.  However, what at first appears to be a blessing becomes something considerably more ambiguous as this once simple, loving family man becomes obsessed with acquiring material things.  Master director Majid Majidi tells this allegorical tale with subtlety, humor and effortless grace.  
35mm, 96 min.
 

Sunday, February 15
7 p.m.
7 BLIND WOMEN FILMMAKERS  (7 Filmsaze Zan-E Nabina)
2008



DIR/SCR/CINE: Sara Parto, Shokoofe Davarnejad, Narges Haghighat, Banafshe Ahmadi, Mahdis Elahi, Naghmeh Afiat, Neda Haghighat.  PROD: Mohammad Shirvani.  EDIT: M. Shirvani, Fatemeh Sadeghizadeh.
This extraordinary omnibus film presents seven shorts made by a group of blind women who each participated in a yearlong filmmaking workshop initiated by director Mohammad Shirvani.  Each short opens an intensely intimate window on the everyday experience of the blind while the collection as a whole raises fascinating questions about the nature of cinema itself.
BetaSP, 116 min.
 

Friday, February 20
7:30 p.m.
3 WOMEN  (Se Zan)
2008

PROD/DIR: Manijeh Hekmat.  SCR: Naghmeh Samini, M. Hekmat.  CINE: Dariush Ayyari.  EDIT: Mostafa Khergeh-Poush.  CAST: Niki Karimi, Pegah Ahangarani, Babak Hamidian, Reza Kianian, Maryam Boubani, Shahrokh Forouanian.
Six years after her controversial debut feature, Women's Prison, director Manijeh Hekmat returns with a powerful story about three generations of Iranian women—a mother, grandmother and granddaughter—each on their own search for meaning.  Hekmat weaves personal histories and national heritage together with warmth and tenderness, while Niki Karimi delivers a mesmerizing performance as a museum conservator caught between the demands of work and family.
35mm, 94 min.
 

Saturday, February 21
7:30 p.m.
A SELECTION OF SHORT FILMS AND VIDEOS FROM IRAN AND THE DIASPORA
Join us for an eclectic program of short narrative and non-fiction works on film and video.  Please check our website for a complete listing of films, descriptions and the program's running order.  Total running time of films: approx. 80 min.
 

VENUE:   The Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024 (courtyard level of the Hammer Museum)

TICKETS:   Advance tickets are available for $10 at www.cinema.ucla.edu. Tickets are also available at the box office starting one hour before showtime: $9 general admission; $8 Cineclub members, students, seniors and UCLA Alumni Association members with ID; $7 Cineclub members who are students or seniors.  Admission to the Feb. 10 screening of Women in Shroud is free.

PARKING:   After 6 p.m., $3 in the lot under the Billy Wilder Theater.  Enter from Westwood Blvd., just north of Wilshire.

INFO:   www.cinema.ucla.edu / 310.206.FILM

... Payvand News - 01/28/09 ...

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