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03:00 PM » Contemporary Iranian Films at Asia Society

Contact Elaine Merguerian or Jennifer Suh,
(212) 327-9271

Asia Society Presents

CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN FILMS
Friday and Saturday, December 3 and 4, 2004

At Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, NYC

Highlights from the 11th Annual Festival of Films from Iran at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The films include some of the latest dramas that explore the struggles and relationships in a changing Iranian society, plus a wry comedy. Films in Persian with English subtitles.

Beautiful City/ Shahre Ziba
(Asghar Farhadi/2004/100 min./35mm)
Friday, December 3 at 7 PM

A lonely abused woman warily lets a paroled convict into her life when he promises to help get her brother's death sentence commuted. Director Asghar Farhadi (Dancing in the Dust) presents one of the more frank and realistic portrayals of young love in contemporary Iranian cinema in counterpoint to the grim quest of a murder victim's father for eye-for-an-eye justice. The award-winning star of I Am Taraneh, 15 (Taraneh Alidoosti) shines in a nuanced performance as the sister trapped in a marriage of convenience to a disreputable middle-aged peddler but increasingly drawn to the ex-con who is her brother's best friend.

Tiny Snowflakes/Danehaye rize barf
(Ali-Reza Amini/2003/75 min./35mm)
Saturday, December 4 at 2 PM

In this comedy of "existential ennui," director Ali-Reza Amini (Letters in the Wind) captures the loneliness and isolation of two watchmen guarding a mine in a remote mountain town, who find pleasure in the subtle and simple things of life: a small dog they find and an unknown woman they see walking in the distance. Other people enter and exit their daily routine, including a group of mine workers, but it is the very world they have created for themselves to deal with their loneliness that keeps others out. Variety writes of the two lead characters: "Curly-haired mute Kalleh is Harpo to his gruff, Groucho-esque, ski-hatted friend."

Killing Mad Dogs/Sagkoshi
(Bahram Beyzaie/2001/135 min./35mm)
Saturday, December 4 at 4 PM

After a break of almost ten years, veteran director Bahram Beyzaie (Bashu, Travelers) returns with a riveting suspense thriller, the story of a writer struggling to get her unfaithful husband out of prison, set just after the Iran-Iraq War. After a lengthy stay in the country Golrokh returns to

Tehran, where her husband-whom she had left because she suspected infidelity-needs her help. His business partner has run off with the money and left him to take the blame. The only way to get her husband out of jail is to "buy back" the debt, a task that Golrokh takes on as her own. What ensues is a journey that takes her to remote barns, dark cellars and misty building sites, where her quick wit and nerves of steel become her greatest assets.

Programmed by Bo Smith, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and sponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Special thanks to the filmmakers and distributors.

Ticket prices are $5 for students, $7 for members and $10 nonmembers. They can be purchased by calling the Asia Society box office at 212.517.ASIA. Advance registration is recommended.

Press interested in the performances should contact Asia Society's public relations department at 212.327.9271 or pr@asiasoc.org.

Asia Society is America's leading institution dedicated to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. A nonprofit, nonpartisan educational institution, the Asia Society presents a wide range of programs including major art exhibitions, performances, media programs, international conferences and lectures, and initiatives to improve elementary and secondary education about Asia. The Asia Society is headquartered in New York City, with regional centers in Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Manila, Shanghai and Melbourne, Australia. For more information, contact the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021. 212.288.6400. (www.asiasociety.org).

From: Jennifer Suh (pr@asiasociety.org)