The Honolulu Academy of Arts is pleased to present six highly acclaimed films from Iran in celebration of the Persian New Year or Narouz on Saturday, March 20. These Iranian box office favorites range from comedies, contemporary issues, to a focus on the feminist struggle in Iran, including two recent films by filmmaker Tamineh Milani, whom Tehran authorities arrested for her defiant filmmaking and for speaking out against the revolution of 1979. Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese were among the American filmmakers who came to her defense.
Special thanks to Fatemeh Hajiani of Thirtyninehotel, Hawaii Community College professor Marty Nikou and Marcia Roberts-Deutsch, and Amir Kalantari of Iranian Film Society in Fremont, California for their support of this film festival.
Director: Dariush Mehrjui
Iran, 2007, 106 mins.
Farsi with English subtitles
From celebrated Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow; The Cycle) comes this
contemporary drama about a musician who plays the santoor, an ancient stringed instrument that is played with two delicate wooden mallets. Santouri is also addicted to heroin. At the height of his fame, his life is on a tragic downward spiral after authorities ban him from playing in public. He tries to blame his ruin on the fact that his wife, (brilliantly played by Golshifteh Farahan in a complex role), a gifted pianist, has left him, but she had already endured years of his addiction. Ali is then left to reconstruct his shattered life. Katyoun Afrooz, film critic for Cinema Without Borders, writes that this film “is a witty, powerful, and honest drama that demands your compassion. Daruish Mehrjui has proven himself with each film to be the master of his craft….you can never escape the fact that you are experiencing the work of an exceptional artist.” Master filmmaker Mehrjui has been censored by both the Shah and the
Islamic fundamentalists. That he has survived and continues to make films is a testament to his talent, fortitude, and influence on younger generations of Iranian filmmakers.
Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Director: Saman Moghadam
Iran, 2005, 110 mins.
Farsi with English subtitles
A smash hit in Iran (the largest grossing film in 2005), MAXX is a delightful comedy of errors and stars a cast of new Iranian actors, including Farhad Ayish in the title role. In this hilarious tale of mistaken identity, Maxx, a performer in a Los Angeles nightclub, receives an invitation to participate in a prestigious musical festival in Tehran. Upon arriving in Iran, Maxx is astounded by the warm welcome and the many invitations to important cultural events. Little does he know that his invitation was originally intended for a prominent symphony conductor with the same name. When authorities in Tehran discover Maxx is a rock musician instead of a maestro, chaos erupts.
Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Director: Tahmineh Milani
Iran, 2005, 103 mins.
Farsi with English subtitles
Set in modern-day Iran, Tahmineh Milani's hotly debated feature explores themes of sexism and censorship in a society that appears to consistently devalue women. When Sima is expected to put up with the affairs of her abusive husband, she is humiliated and heartbroken. The whole world seems to be against her, until a twist of fate threatens to turn things upside down.
Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Director: Tahmineh Milani
Iran, 2006, 104 mins.
Farsi with English subtitles
From Tahmineh Milani, Iran's leading female director, comes this irreverent romantic comedy with saucy dialogue and pointed insight into modern marriage. Sayeh, an exasperated newlywed, stumbles into a psychiatrist's office, where she unloads about her chauvinist husband (she thinks she’s meeting with a divorce lawyer). Yousef, played by hunky Iranian star Mohammad Reza Golzar (Boutique, The Last Supper ) admired Sayeh’s independence before they were married, but he wants her to cook and clean for him now that she’s his wife. A sensation in her own country, this film marks Milani's first foray into mainstream romantic comedy.
Monday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 10 at 1:00 p.m.
Director: Fereydoun Jeyrani
Iran, 2002, 96 mins.
Farsi with English subtitles
After spending more than two decades in an unhappy marriage, an architecture professor is encouraged by her daughter to seek a divorce. In order to fully experience her new freedom, she moves into her ancestral home. In the midst of this life changing transition, a handsome, gentle young student declares his love for her and pursues her relentlessly. His courtship presents several serious dilemmas, particularly when the professor discovers that her daughter is in love with her suitor.
Tuesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 11 at 1 p.m.
Director: Saman Moghaddam
Iran, 2006, 90 mins.
Farsi with English subtitles
In this contemporary slice of Iranian life, three women from a poor neighborhood in Tehran actively work to improve their standard of living. Fariba, Saloomeh, and Moluk are the women who form a warm-hearted trio of interwoven stories. Fariba operates the Café Setareh, while her alcoholic, unemployed husband sponges off her; Saloomeh debates whether she should marry Ebi, whose one good deed fails to compensate for his controlling, mean streak; and Moluk, a middle-aged landlady, pines for a man who has his own problems. Directed by talented newcomer Saman Moghadam (Maxx), this film offers an authentic portrait of Iranian women, and as noted in Variety, “ Saman Moghaddam’s finely nuanced Café Seatreh is a rare film equally influenced by Quentin Tarantino, Jean Renoir and William Saroyan with a deep humanist sense and a feel for working-class folk.”
Wednesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13 at 1 p.m.
Director: Michel Ocelot
France, 2006/2008, 99 min
In English - Recommended for children of all ages 6+ (rated PG)
In another celebration of Persia, this film “has a terrific flair for arabesque patterning, a gemlike luminosity of surface and a classical mind,” writes New York Times film critic Nathan Lee. Set in the Middle Ages in a Middle Eastern landscape, blonde, blue-eyed prince Azur and black-haired, brown-eyed Asmar are lovingly cared for and raised by Azur’s nanny, who is Asmar's gentle mother. She tells them magical stories of her faraway homeland and of a beautiful, imprisoned Fairy Djinn waiting to be set free. Time passes, and Azur's father, the master of the house, sends Azur away to study, and cruelly drives out Asmar and his mother, leaving them homeless and penniless. Years later, as a young adult, Azur remains haunted by memories of the sunny land of his nanny, and sets sail across the high seas to find the country of his dreams. He is later reunited with Asmar, but now as adversaries, they set off on a dangerous quest to find and free the Fairy of the Djinns.
Sunday, March 15 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 24 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 20 at 1 p.m.
Monday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m