FRIDAY | 10:25pm

Sponsored by Crown Café, Watertown

Firouzeh Khosrovani

1h20m | 2020 | Iran | East Coast Premiere

Director’s Statement: “I am the product of Iran’s endless struggle between traditionalism and modernization.”

This family history is like an x-ray, laying bare the conflicts of Iranian society in the run-up to, and the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The director’s mother, a devout Muslim, married a secular progressive Iranian who was studying radiology in Switzerland. Living in Europe was a challenge for her with sin being everywhere. Her father was a lover of culture, fine arts, classical music, and enjoyed the European way of life. They moved back to Tehran after the birth of their child and shortly thereafter, the Revolution happened, turning everything upside down. Khosrovani says of her parents, “Mother found new reasons for living and a new identity as she became a religious activist while my father sat quietly in his favorite chair at home listening to Bach. My mother censored the past while my father dreamt of a different future.” Amazingly beautiful filming!

Awards: Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for best creative use of archive at IDFA, Amsterdam; Audience Award at Films from the South, Oslo; numerous Film Festival Official Selections.