Highlights of the 2018 "Visions of Iran" film festival
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"Poets of Life" by Shirin Barghnavard: after studying literature in Paris, Shirin Parsi moved with her husband to the Shanderman Rural District in Iran, where they produce organic rice. Shirin is also an activist for a local women's rights NGO. The film "Poets of Life", directed by Shirin Barghnavard, follows Parsi as she pushes for social and environmental change -
"The Story of Boulevard" by Davood Ashrafi: in his documentary, filmmaker Ashrafi offers an artistic exploration of the history and political symbolism of Tehran's central Keshavarz Boulevard. The documentary reveals the pulse of this vibrant street, tells the story of the major events that unfolded there and portrays the boulevard's district as an area of collective nostalgia -
"Wedding: A Film" by Mohammadreza Farzad: following his break-up with his wife, filmmaker Farzad goes through his wedding video as well as the videos of other couples, trying to find signs of pre-existing unhappiness that could later lead to separation. Farzad's personal and poetic documentary moves on from his personal story to explore the entire concept of matrimony and its social meaning -
"Iran's Arrow" by Shahin Armin and Sohrab Daryabandari: along with Kehavarz Boulevard, the history of another urban phenomenon from Iran is revisited in film: the cult car brand, the Paykan (English: "arrow"), which was built from 1967 to 2005. The story of the car also reveals the cultural history of modern Iran -
"Mother of the Earth" by Mahnaz Afzali: the documentary focuses on Haydeh Shirazi, an Iranian who has returned from Germany to her home country and works to preserve agricultural land, eliminate waste and combat pollution. Shirazi has managed to convince the city of Kermanshah to recycle its trash. Filmmaker Mahnaz Afzali follows her as she further campaigns for the creation of recycling centres in Iran -
"24 Frames" by Abbas Kiarostami: this film, completed after Kiarostami's death in 2016, again demonstrates why the director of "Taste of Cherry" is a great master of Iranian cinema. In 24 Frames, Kiarostami animates old photos and paintings, the deeply spiritual work emerging through the meditative, repeated imagery. The director spent the last three years of his life on this experimental work -
"Moft Abad" by Pejman Teymourtash: the theatrical film debut of the documentary director and author Pejman Teymourtash tells a story in real time, set almost exclusively inside an apartment shared by five young men in the Tehran district of Moft Abad. Through the characters' hardships, Teymourtash portrays the problems faced by Iran's urban youth