Feb 8 2004 4:00pm
California Film Institute, 38 Miller Avenue Suite 6, Mill Valley, California 94941 USA info@cafilm.org
http://cafilm.org/index.html
Banned by Iranian authorities, the directorial debut of veteran producer Manijeh Hekmat vividly dramatizes turbulent times in Iranian history through the eyes of female prison inmates. Beginning her tale in 1984 with the arrival of tough new warden Tahereh (Roya Taym-ourian), Hekmat continues in 1992 and 2001, tracing the warden’s charged relationship with Mitra (Roya Nanahali), who is serving a life sentence for killing her violent stepfather. Touching on such taboo topics as political activism, corruption, prostitution, drug use and homosexuality, this fascinating film also casts Pegah Ahangarani in multiple roles representing the changing situation of Iranian youth through the years. In Farsi with English subtitles. (Iran, 2002) 106 min.
IFWC and the Educational Scholarship Fund Announce Zoya Sabet in Concert
ifwc@aol.com TELEPHONE NUMBER: 408 381-4268
The Iranian Federated Women's Club and the Educational Scholarship Fund Committee are honored to present Zoya Sabet and Sohile Zoulfonoon in concert on Sunday, February 8, 2004, at Smithwich Theater at Foothill College.
Please join us starting at 5 p.m. for a journey through time to rediscover the vocal and music of Persia. Tickets are $25 and tax deductible. Tickets can be purchased at Persian Markets.
They can also be purchased online at www.payvand.org
Ms. Sabet is a traditional Persian vocalist whose training began in her native Iran. Her vast and diverse repertoire encompasses a variety of genre. She has performed on four continents and recorded 14 albums. She was the first classical singer from Iran to perform at the Sydney Opera House.
Ms. Sabet was trained under the direction of some of the greatest Iranian masters, including Ostad Manoochehr Sadeghi, Ostad Morteza Varzi, and Maestro Mohammad Reza Lotfi.
Though Ms. Sabet's training is classical and her performances reserved mostly for scholars and academics, "It's important for her to play music that attracts younger people," said Parviz Gharib-Afshar, master of Iranian media.
In an effort to connect with a larger and younger audience—and not just Iranians—Ms. Sabet taps into ancient Persian poetry and sets some of the most beautiful lyrics from Rumi and Hafez to contemporary music, Mr. Gharib-Afshar explained.
She will be accompanied in concert by Sohile Zoulfonoon, a talented musician from a very well known musical Iranian family.
Proceeds from this concert will benefit Iranian-American students, musicians, artists, writers, and poets. A portion will also be donated to the victims of the Bam earthquake.
IFWC is a local not-for-profit organization free of political and religious affiliations. The organization's sole mission is to integrate and empower the Iranian American community in Northern California. IFWC provides cultural and educational activities, including awarding
scholarships each year.
Sunday February 8 2004, 7:00PM ( Buy ticket )
> ABJAD
(2003) Directed by Abolfazl Jalili
Abolfazl Jalili's astonishing new film is a semi-autobiographical
story set in the late 1970s, in the tumultuous period just before the
Revolution. The story centers around sixteen year-old Emkan, a
sensitive, curious and artistically inclined youth whose creative
leanings are constantly stifled by his conservative family. To
complicate matters further, Emkan, a Muslim, falls in love with the
beautiful Maassoum, a young Jewish girl whose family runs a local
cinema. Soon the two youths are caught between their feelings for
each other and the outrage of their families. Out of this story and
the perfectly nuanced performances of its two young actors, Jalili
has crafted a masterpiece, infused with subtlety and tender humor.
Producer: Emmanuel Benbihy. Screenplay: Abolfazl Jalili. Editor:
Abolfazl Jalili. Coreographer: Mehdi Majde Vaziri. Cast: Mehdi
Morady, Mina Molania, Sharare Roohy, Fariba Khademy. Presented in
Farsi dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 111 min.
>>> UCLA PERSIAN FILM FEST
1.7.04 - 2.11.04
UCLA Film and Television Archive & The Bijan Amin and Soraya Amin
Foundation present
14TH ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF IRANIAN CINEMA
Like the nation it reflects so vividly and thoughtfully, Iranian
cinema is at a crossroads. Iran has an overwhelmingly young
population, and almost all of the selections in this survey of recent
Iranian filmmaking concern a generation of young people dissatisfied
with their present situation and uncertain about the future. In very
different ways, LETTERS IN THE WIND and DEEP BREATH movingly and
excitingly depict protagonists caught between adolescent rebellion
and the search for a place in society. Similarly, a new generation of
filmmakers is emerging as the trickle of titles distributed
independently grows to a flood. Like LETTERS IN THE WIND, TEHRAN,
7:00 A.M. is a first film from this independent movement, and like
DEEP BREATH, it represents a break with the kind of filmmaking that
foreign viewers typically associate with Iranian cinema. Instead of
pastoral lyricism or poetic neorealism, these films focus on the
pleasures and displeasures of everyday urban life.
The tradition in Iranian cinema of combining keenly observed realism
and symbolic allegory continues with another first film, DANCING IN
THE DUST. Yet another first feature, BLACK TAPE, combines two
concerns of recent Iranian cinema-the place of women and the place of
the dispossessed Kurds-but with a harsh contemporary edge unusual in
the films from the 1990s that put Iranian cinema on the map. Our
opening night film, CRIMSON GOLD, is a collaboration between two
acknowledged masters, Abbas Kiarostami (TEN) and Jafar Panahi (THE
CIRCLE). This film too is concerned about dehumanizing forces in
Iranian society. It is a concern with global resonance.
Special thanks to: Mark Amin; Bo Smith, Lori Donnelly-Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston; -Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago; Tom Vick-Freer and
Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution; B鲩nice Reynaud-REDCAT;
Zareh Arevshatian.
All films in Farsi with English subtitles.