Pelan #20: “Sepideh - Reaching for the Stars"
- Director: Berit Madsen
- Screening: Jan. 18, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
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- SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1800
- Run time: 88
Sepideh is a young Iranian woman who dares to dream - of a future as an astronaut. At night, she stares up at the universe, and she is taking lessons from a space fanatic who teaches schoolchildren about astronomy. At home, full of hope and longing, she watches recordings of the world's first female astronaut, Anousheh Ansari. So it is possible! When her father died suddenly six years ago, Sepideh discovered that she could feel closer to him by watching the stars. And so her dream was born, but not everyone appreciates her boundless ambition. After all, becoming an astronaut is not exactly a normal goal for a girl in Iran, particularly because there's no money to pay for university and beyond. Her mother and uncle are worried about the emancipated young woman. She doesn't want to learn to cook, hardly ever visits her family and doesn't seem to be thinking about marriage at all. We follow this brave young Iranian woman as she watches the stars, as well as at school, in the mosque and at home, where tensions steadily rise. As we follow Sepideh, it becomes clear just how at odds her dreams are with her current reality and the expectations of those around her. Fortunately, Sepideh is able to express all her thoughts, dreams and cares in the letters she writes to her hero, Albert Einstein.
Director:
Berit Madsen is a social anthropologist and documentary filmmaker from Denmark. She has carried out fieldwork in the Caribbean, Nepal, Niger and Denmark and has produced a number of documentary films as part of her ethnographic research. Her film production lies within the genre of observational cinema, with a strong emphasis on the relationship across the camera and on using the camera as a tool for investigation. Madsen has lectured extensively on ethnographic filmmaking in Denmark, India and Serbia. She has been a member of the working committee of the Nordic Anthropological Film Association since 1991, NAFA Vice General Secretary since 2006, and co-editor of its electronic newsletter NAFA-Network since 1993.