Pelan #62: Free Ion

• Director: Nassim Nadjafi

• Screening: April 13, 2024, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 59

Synopsis:
Nima, a 30-year-old Iranian man, defies the conventional path most Iranian male must follow by avoiding military service, employment, and completing university education after 12 years as a student. However, his beloved girlfriend plans to leave Iran, which requires Nima to complete military service and obtain a university degree to join her abroad. The film documents five pivotal years in Nima's life, capturing the conflicts between his free-spirited/bohemian lifestyle and his love for his partner.

About the director:
Nassim Nadjafi is an Iranian director, executive producer, and critic. After completing her engineering degree in 2000, she pursued directing, graduating from Tehran Film School in 2004. She is an executive producer of foreign documentaries in Iran and an independent documentary filmmaker. Her documentary "Revolution Road, The Professor Nejatollahi Crossing" aired on BBC in 2017, and her latest film, "Free Ion" is scheduled for broadcast there in 2024. Nassim explores the human condition beyond formal narratives in her films. Some of the topics she has worked on cover the stories of individuals and their destinies in Iran during the revolution of 1979, and the underground life of people.

59 Minutes
Iran, 2014-2021
Farsi with English subtitles.

Pelan #61: Chicheka Lullaby

• Director: Raha Faridi

• Screening: March 23, 2024, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 97

Synopsis:
Chicheka Lullaby is an anthropological documentary about music. It pictures the life story of one of the influential musicians of the Iranian south, Ebrahim Monsefi. He was an alternative artist who challenged his society and lived a creative life with a strong sense of humor despite depression. He died 20 years ago amidst poverty and drug addiction but wrote 100s of lyrics and recorded more than 200 songs with a small cassette player. He traveled extensively, spreading a message of love and freedom, and inspired many with his words, voice, and guitar. Todayʼs musicians are covering his songs but his story has never been told. The film not only archives a collection of traditional music and contemporary fusion but also opens up a window to the south of Iran, showing the peopleʼs culture and lifestyle. (Tirgan)

97 Minutes
Farsi with English subtitles.
Iran-2019

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Pelan #60: Ghobad Shiva

• Director: Vahid Hosseini

• Screening: Feb. 17, 2024, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 100

Synopsis:
This documentary is a compelling encounter with Ghobad Shiva that delves into his life and artistic journey as a distinguished Iranian artist. After graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1966, Shiva honed his skills in graphic art through practical experiences before earning a master's degree from Pratt University, New York, in 1980. This documentary unfolds Shiva's remarkable career, highlighting his unique contribution to graphic art with a distinct Iranian flavor.

100 Minutes
Farsi with English subtitles.
Iran-2021.

Pelan #59: Mother of the Earth

• Director: Mahnaz Afzali

• Screening: Nov. 25, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 52

Synopsis:

This documentary takes a brief look at Hayedeh Shirzadi and her husband’s shared life, love, and work and their attempt to put an end to the dumping and burial of urban garbage. Due to their hard work and ingenuity, 100% of the city of Kermanshah’s garbage is now recycled, and the biowaste is made into organic fertilizers. Shirzadi studied recycling in Germany. She returned to Iran to clean up the environment, stop the destruction of arable land, and curb air and water pollution. Her first attempts were ignored, but she kept at the local government until she successfully got the job of waste manager, first in her birthplace Gilane Gharb, and then in Kermanshah. She also travelled around Iran and helped establish recycling centres in many cities. Today Kermanshah’s waste is all recycled and converted into valuable products. She is an energetic leader, and the fate of the earth is her primary concern. Shirzadi has recently launched a site for recycling construction rubble.

Pelan #58: Poets of Life

• Director: Shirin Barghnavard

• Screening: Oct. 28, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 73

Synopsis:

Shirin Parsi is a rice farmer, but not an ordinary one. After receiving a BA in French literature from the University of Paris, she returned to Iran and decided not to live in the megapolis capital, Tehran. Her husband had inherited land in Shanderman, a village near the Caspian Sea, so they moved there and took up rice farming.

The Parsi family - including their two sons, who have stayed to farm with their parents - has instituted innovations in rice production. They promote sustainable farming and refrain from using chemical pesticides and fertilizers. In a region where more and more farmers are selling their farms at very cheap prices to developers, the Parsis produce 100% organic rice.

Shirin and her family have chosen an exemplary lifestyle which is rich in indigenous values. In addition to rice farming, she spends time as a social activist and volunteers with several local NGOs. She is especially active in women’s groups where she focuses on raising awareness.

This film follows Shirin preparing the rice paddies until the rice harvest, as well as showing her social activities, as she attempts to bring about social and environmental change.

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Pelan #57: Red Lipstick

• Director: Shiva Sanjari

• Screening: Sept. 2, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 40

Synopsis:

"Red Lipstick" (بزک) directed by Shiva Sanjari is a medium length documentary centered around Masoumeh, a young unmarried hairdresser in Tehran's impoverished "Shoosh" neighborhood. Running a beauty salon that serves as a refuge for local women. Narges works alongside Masoumeh as a fortuneteller in the salon. The film intricately weaves their daily struggles and triumphs in the face of Iran's complex societal landscape. Through intimate narratives and shared moments, the documentary sheds light on the intersection of tradition and modernity and ultimately celebrating Iranian women's weaknesses and strengths and their resilience.

Pelan #56: Radiography of a Family

• Director: Firouzeh Khosrovani

• Screening: July 26, 2023, 7 p.m.
• /
• Cinematheque

• Run time: 82

Synopsis:

"Mother married a photo of Father," says director Firouzeh Khosrovani in the opening of this deeply personal documentary. She's not speaking metaphorically, though. Her mother Tayi married a Hossein portrait in Teheran. He was in Switzerland studying radiology and was unable to travel back to his homeland for the wedding. The event illustrates the abyss that still exists in their marriage: Hossein is a secular progressive, and Tayi a devout, traditional Muslim. But this family history is also a sort of x-ray, laying bare the conflicts of Iranian society in the run-up to, and aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Besides Khosrovani's commentary, we hear letters being read aloud and recollections of conversations between her parents. At the same time, we see photographs and videos from the family archive. These fragments of intimacy are interspersed with stylized shots of the filmmaker's parental home, its decor and furnishings subtly reflecting each new phase in her parents' marriage and in Iranian society. Credit: IDFA 2020.

Director:

Born in Tehran, Firouzeh Khosrovani settled in Italy to pursue her artistic studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. After graduating in 2002, she returned to Iran and obtained her Master’s degree in Journalism. Since then, she has contributed to and collaborated with numerous Italian newspapers and magazines. She made her debut as a filmmaker in 2004 with Life Train, a documentary on the ‘play’ therapy provided for the traumatized children of Bam in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. In 2007, she directed Rough Cut, a film about mutilated plastic mannequins in the shop windows of Tehran, which won thirteen international documentary film festival awards, followed in 2008 by Cutting Off, an installation and video art piece for the Triennale di Milano. Her 1001 Irans (2010), was a documentary about the image of Iran outside of Iran. In 2011, she collaborated with three directors from three different continents on a Spanish production about the concept of beauty and women’s physical appearance, called Espelho Meu, which won the Best National Documentary award in Documenta Madrid. The following year, she directed Iran, Unveiled and Veiled Again, produced by Istituto Luce, Cinecittà, in Rome. In 2014, she participated in a collective project, Profession: Documentarist, a film in seven episodes by seven Iranian women directors. Her work, Fest of Duty, is about a religious ceremony in Iran designed to instill Islamic beliefs and values into girls when they reach the age of nine. The documentary follows two adolescent girls transitioning into adulthood eight years after their official Fest of Duty. Radiograph of a Family is her last documentary screened publicly so far.

https://thecinematheque.ca/films/2023/radiograph-of-a-family

Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/475794232

Pelan #55: The Marriage Project

• Director: Atieh Attarzadeh and Hesam Eslami

• Screening: June 17, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 78

Synopsis:
Encourage the patients from a mental hospital to form relationships with each other, get married, and live as a family. That’s the bold new idea of the head of Ehsan House in Southern Tehran. For the past 20 years, 480 patients have lived in separate male and female units. But in 2017, the head of the center secured the money to build a new unit of marital facilities. As a selection committee begins evaluating patients, hidden affections surface. Finally, the team selects two patients to form the first couple. Are these two patients capable of having a relationship that leads to marriage?

Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/398875656/531ec25b67

About the directors:
Atieh Attarzadeh holds a BA and Master in Cinema studies from the University of Tehran and a Master in documentary practice at the University of Bristol. She directed three short documentary films, “40 Days of Pine” (in a mental home – 2016), “17 years old” (2014), and “I Am an Ordinary Woman” (2010). She is also a writer, and her works were published at the prestigious Cheshmeh editing house: “Ride the Horse in a Half of Yourself” (2015 – poetry book) and “The Handbook of Dying with Herbal Medicines” (2016 – novel).

Hesam Eslami, born in 1982 in Ahwaz, south of Iran, got his BFA and MA in cinema from the Tehran University of Art. Since 2009 he started to work as an editor and director and made documentaries for TV channels. Juvenile offenders and social damages are the main themes of his work. In 2017 his first feature-length documentary, “20th Circuit Suspects” (six years in the life of an adolescent crime gang that breaks into cars in the streets of Tehran) premiered at Hot Docs. He attended the Berlinale Talent Campus in February 2018 where he presented his latest project on gold searchers in Iran.

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Pelan #54: Mrs. and Mr. Tump

• Director: Farhad Varahram

• Screening: May 20, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 42

Synopsis:

This is the story of Leon Tumpashian, a Russian immigrant who moved to Iran after the 1917 revolution. He was an experienced breeder of horses and greyhounds and studied civil engineering in Germany before returning to Iran. Later, he moved to Australia but found himself in Iraq, working as the head gamekeeper for King Faisal II for 11 years. After returning to Iran, he married Margaret Huffman, the secretary of the German embassy, and continued breeding horses and greyhounds until his death. The documentary also follows Huffman's journey, who stayed in Iran to train greyhounds until she was 90 before returning to Germany.

About the director:

Farhad Varahram, born in 1948 in Borujerd, Iran, is an Iranian documentary filmmaker celebrated for his exploration of the diverse ethnic and cultural tapestry of Iran. After graduating from the Academy of Film and Television and the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Tehran, Varahram initially worked as a cameraman before venturing into directing. Since then, he has crafted a prolific documentary filmmaking career spanning several decades.

Varahram's films serve as captivating windows into Iran's vibrant heritage and traditions. From his early works as a cameraman in the 1970s, capturing the traditional paper production in Gilan province in films like "Cuka," to his more recent projects such as "Taras" and "Yad-o yadegar" (Memories and Remembrances), he has showcased the rich tapestry of religious ceremonies, nomadic life, and traditional practices throughout the country.

Beyond his work as a filmmaker, Varahram has made significant contributions to ethnographic film. He serves as a Film Commissioner and lecturer in Ethnographic Film at the University of Tehran, where he holds the position of Assistant Professor. Additionally, Varahram's talent extends to photography, and has authored several monographs. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Iran and Europe since 1978.

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Pelan #53: Hamja 'Co-Wives'

• Director: Mehdi Ghanavati

• Screening: April 29, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 57

Synopsis:
The film tells the story of a man called Abdolhassan who lives with his four wives and 24 children in the south of Iran in Boushehr. Their income comes from farming and livestock. The daily tasks in the village, are shared by the women. Together they built their own village, and there is a private school at the village where the students are all brothers and sisters.

Pelan #52: All Mama's Babies

• Director: Rezvan Sarmad

• Screening: March 25, 2023, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 80

Synopsis:
The documentary tells the story of the Sarmad family. For their children's sake, the filmmaker's parents decide to transform their house into a nine-floor apartment building. Her mother has planted many fruit trees in the garden and takes great care of them. To make way for the new building, the garden must be destroyed. When she realizes this, she does everything she can to save the trees.

Pelan #51: Here the Seats Are Vacant

• Director: Shiva Sanjari

• Screening: Feb. 11, 2023, 1 p.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 63

Synopsis:

The lives of Iranian women working in film changed drastically after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Shahrzad was sold by her father when she was only twelve years old and was forced to dance in a cabaret in Tehran. Years passed and she became a famous actress and dancer. Eventually, Shahrzad appeared in many movies and received important awards and recognition for her work. In 1977 Shahrzad directed her first movie and became one of the first female directors in Iranian cinema. Two years later, the revolution changed the country and the Islamic government banned her from working in the movie industry, destroying her career and artistic future. Nearly thirty-five years later, director Shiva Sanjari tracks down this living legend in order to recount her story.

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#پلان #پلان_ونکوور #مستند_ونکوور #نمایش_مستند_ایرانی_در_ونکوور
#ونکوور

Pelan #50: Snowy Roads & Snowy Roofs

• Director: Haideh Moradi

• Screening: Jan. 14, 2023, 1 p.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 60

This month, we are screening two short documentaries by Haideh Moradi. Both films are in Azari with English subtitles:
* Snowy Roads (Iran – 2017, 29 minutes)
* Snowy Roofs (Iran – 2015, 27 minutes)
‏This event is free, seats are limited, please register in advance.
https://www.nvcl.ca/events/iranian-documentary-series-pelan-2

Synopsis:

Ardebil province is located in the northwest mountainous region of Iran. Besides its cold and snowy winter, it is also famous for discrimination between boys and girls and men and women. The villagers survive on dairy farming and some crafts. Many of the young men have emigrated from the village to the city in search of work. Left behind are young, undereducated women who wait for the young men to return. These two short documentaries depict the difficulties schoolgirls in these villages and small towns face in obtaining an education as well as the loneliness and difficulties they face as they get older.

#pelan_vancouver
#pelanvancouver
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#پلان #پلان_ونکوور #مستند_ونکوور #نمایش_مستند_ایرانی_در_ونکوور
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Pelan #49: Parvaneh

• Director: Bahman Kiarostami

• Screening: Dec. 17, 2022, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 60

Synopsis:

A documentary movie about Parvaneh Etemadi, an Avant-garde Iranian painter. Born in 1948, with nearly five decades of active presence on the scene of visual arts, she decided to finally sit in front of a camera and talk about her style of doing art and her way of thinking about life as an artist.

Director:
Bahman Kiarostami (born in 1978) lives and works in Tehran, as a documentary film director, editor, and cinematographer. He made his first documentary ‘Morteza Momayez: Father of Iranian Contemporary Graphic Design in 1996.
His films have been shown at numerous international film festivals and the focus of his documentaries has been primarily on art and music, but also cover the visible yet obscured and unnoticed details which define post-revolutionary Iran. He was the winner of Best Documentary at the London Iranian Film Festival (2011) and his documentary ‘Shiraz’ as part of ‘Taste of Iran series’ was voted Best Documentary of the year by the viewers of BBC World news. Bahman was also the recipient of the Best Director Award at Mid East Film Festival (2003) His Filmography includes:
House of Golestan 2022, Leech 2021, Parvaneh 2020, Exodus 2019, Monir 2017, Kahrizak 2013,
Taxi-Tehran 2011, The Treasure Cave 2009, Statues of Tehran 2008, Anonymous (co-directed with Kaveh Kazemi) 2007, Re-enactment 2006, Persian Gardens 2005, Pilgrimage 2005, Two Bows 2004, Infidels 2004, Nour 2003, I Saw Shoush 2002.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWUIyEY7Vf8

NOTE:
Seats are limited. Please register in advance via the following link:
https://www.nvcl.ca/events/iranian-documentary-series-pelan-1

Pelan #48: Radiography of a Family

• Director: Firouzeh Khosrovani

• Screening: Nov. 26, 2022, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 82

Synopsis:

"Mother married a photo of Father," says director Firouzeh Khosrovani in the opening of this deeply personal documentary. She's not speaking metaphorically though. Her mother Tayi literally married a portrait of Hossein in Teheran -he was in Switzerland studying radiology and was unable to travel back to his homeland for the wedding. The event illustrates the abyss that still exists in their marriage: Hossein is a secular progressive and Tayi a devout, traditional Muslim. But this family history is also a sort of x-ray, laying bare the conflicts of Iranian society in the run-up to, and aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Besides Khosrovani's commentary, we hear letters being read aloud and recollections of conversations between her parents. At the same time, we see photographs and videos from the family archive. These fragments of intimacy are interspersed with stylized shots of the filmmaker's parental home, its decor and furnishings subtly reflecting each new phase in her parents' marriage-and in Iranian society. Credit: IDFA 2020.

Director:
Born in Tehran, Firouzeh Khosrovani settled in Italy to pursue her artistic studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. After graduating in 2002 she returned to Iran and acquired her Master’s degree in Journalism. Since then, she has contributed to and collaborated with numerous Italian newspapers and magazines. She made her debut as a filmmaker in 2004 with Life Train, a documentary on the ‘play’ therapy provided for the traumatized children of Bam in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. In 2007, she directed Rough Cut, a film about mutilated plastic mannequins in the shop windows of Tehran, which won thirteen international documentary film festival awards, followed in 2008 by Cutting Off, an installation and video art piece for the Triennale di Milano. Her 1001 Irans (2010), was a documentary about the image of Iran, outside of Iran. In 2011, she collaborated with three directors from three different continents on a Spanish production about the concept of beauty and women’s physical appearance, called Espelho Meu, which won the Best National Documentary award in Documenta Madrid. The next year, she directed Iran, Unveiled and Veiled Again, produced by Istituto Luce, Cinecittà, in Rome. In 2014, she participated in a collective project, Profession: Documentarist, a film in seven episodes, made by seven Iranian women directors. Her work, Fest of Duty, is about a religious ceremony in Iran designed to instill Islamic beliefs and values into girls when they reach the age of nine. The documentary follows two adolescent girls as they transition into adulthood, eight years after their official Fest of Duty. Radiograph of a Family is her last documentary screened publicly so far.

Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/475794232

NOTE:
Seats are limited. Please register in advance via the following link:
https://www.nvcl.ca/events/iranian-documentary-series-pelan-0

Pelan #47: Woodgirls - A Duet For A Dream

• Director: Azadeh BizarGiti

• Screening: Oct. 22, 2022, 11 a.m.
• /
• North Vancouver City Library

• Run time: 76

Synopsis:
A story about the lives of Leila Avakh and Sedigheh Momennia who have chosen, with much love and passion, carpentry as a profession, a profession that is considered extremely masculine in the traditional society of Iran. As such, these two face many difficulties and obstacles. However, they are determined to prove to themselves and their society that it is not impossible to achieve your dreams. Leila and Sedigheh are amongst the first female carpenters in Iran.

About the director (AZADEH BIZARGITI):
She studied Persian literature and is a member of the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association. In addition to directing and producing documentaries, she also writes about literature, women, and film. With Woodgirls – A Duet for a Dream, she has won awards at the Rome Independent Cinema Festival and the Calcutta CICFF. Her films Dawn That Smelled of Lemon (2013) and The Hidden Side of The Moon (2016) streamed on MUBI.

Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/619030810

Pelan #46: Father, Mother, Ali, Reza, and Me

• Director: Hanieh Yousefian

• Screening: Nov. 22, 2020, 5 p.m.
• /
• Cloud video Screening via Zoom

• Run time: 41

Forgetfulness is the most significant worry of my family and me. The father has suffered from Alzheimer`s disease and not recognized any of family members for so long time. His wife and children are known as just some acquaintances or unknown guys. Family`s life is donated to the father`s disease. The mother takes care of the father as her kid, whereas Ali; the younger son, is skeptical to all of things especially, to the father`s disease. He hesitates that father plays role of Alzheimer`s patient. Father forgets all of belongs including his real home. His memories have been replaced by his dreams.The wish of breathing in his childish house. Living in Kazeroun where all of his dreams come true. He directly asks me to take him to there and in fact it is his last wish.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/156610504
Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/334LG0G

About director:

In 2014, Hanieh graduated from Sooreh University, in Tehran, Iran, with an M.A. in Dramatic Literature, and went on to study cinema at the Art University of Tehran. She has directed many short films, all exploring themes of diversity from different angles. In 2015 she brought her film Father, Mother, Ali, Reza and Me to the 9th Iran International Documentary Film Festival, and is currently working on two new documentary projects.

Event information:

ZOOM link: https://bit.ly/2GKFu5U or use the Meeting ID in zoom application of 811 9582 8550
This online event was free and for general audiences.

Pelan #45: Coup 53

• Director: Taghi Amirani

• Screening: Aug. 23, 2020, noon
• /
• Sept. 16, 2020, noon

• Run time: 119

While making a documentary about the CIA/MI6 coup in Iran in 1953, Iranian director Taghi Amirani and editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The English Patient) discover never seen before archive material hidden for decades. The 16mm footage and documents not only allow the filmmakers to tell the story of the overthrow of the Iranian government in unprecedented detail, but it also lead to explosive revelations about dark secrets buried for 67 years. Working with Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Schindler’s List, The English Patient) to help bring the lost material to life, what began as a historical documentary about four days in August 1953 turned into a live investigation, taking the filmmakers into uncharted cinematic waters. The roots of Iran's volatile relationship with America and Britain has never been so forensically and dramatically exposed.

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Pelan #44: Iranian Pet Club

• Director: Hadi Afarideh

• Screening: July 26, 2020, 7 p.m.
• /
• Cloud video Screening via Zoom

• Run time: 60

Keeping pets such as dogs or cats in Iran is challenged by various religious and traditional beliefs, and municipalities collect and kill urban dogs in an organized way.
In the last decade, keeping special pets such as snakes, tarantulas, alligators, monkeys, and even scorpions has become very common in Iranian houses. Unlike domestic pets such as dogs, these animals do not need to go outside the house and they are kept in the closed apartment spaces. Due to the increasing demand for buying various pets, a large underground network has been created to buy and sell animals, and keeping pets has become a strong culture and economy in Iran.
“Iranian Pet Club” provides a surprising insight into Iranian society and reveals that the affection for animals is something deeply human. Hadi Afarideh's documentary film is a tribute to pets and their owners who slowly continue their triumph against strict laws and religious beliefs of purity.

More about film:

Camera Operator: Reza Teimoori
Editor: Babak Bahrambeigi
Sound Recordist: Shahim Poordadashi
Sound Designing and Mixing: Mehrshad Malakooti
Music Composer: Hamidreza Afarideh
Production Manager: A’zam Sadeqi Monfared
Colour and Light: Reza Teimoori
Producer: Hadi Afarideh
Production: DEFC(Documentary and Experimental Film Center)
Full HD (1080), ST./60Mins, 16/9, Color 2018

Screenings:

Berlinale, Festival de Sofia, Festival Balkan Trafik, Festival International du Film de La Rochelle, Festival de Séville, Underhill Fest, Festival de Douarnenez, Festival de Sakhaline, Message to Man, Saint-Pétersbourg, Aljazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival, Festival International Jean Rouch, Cineuropa, Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, Festival du Film d’Europe Centrale et Orientale, Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur, Stockholm International Film Festival, Escales Documentaires, Festival Premiers Plans, Festival Repérages, Festival Passagers du réel, Festival Femmes en Cinéma, Festival2Valenciennes.

Director’s statement:

The way individuals in every society treat the animals indicates the growth of culture and social understanding in that society.
Sadly, animals do not have a good living condition in Iran today, and they are subject to torture and harm, beating, keeping in captivity, mutilation, sexual harassment, unlicensed scientific experiments, training for performance, in various ways and with various excuses.
By portraying a small glimpse on the animals’ living condition in Iran, the documentary Iranian Pet Club tries to attract attention to the way the animals live at the domestic and international levels.
The general approach of Iranian Pet Club is to record the reality that is present in today’s Iranian culture and society, and by depicting those conditions, I try to change the living condition of the animals and society’s general culture and also the way the government deals with animals.
The draft of the bill to ban hurting animals in Iran has been compiled many years ago by the animals’ supporters and has been sent by Iran Ministry of Justice to Iran Islamic Consultative Assembly to be passed as a law but the parliament has not taken any action whatsoever to protect the animals in Iran yet.

About Director:

Hadi Afarideh was born in Tehran, Iran in 1984. He started his art career in theatre in 1998 and in cinema in 2001 in Iranian Youth Cinema Society where he graduated with high grades. He was chosen the best documentary filmmaker in the first specialised workshops of documentary filmmaking in Iran by Documentary and Experimental Film Centre and Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association in 2006.

Hadi Afarideh has participated in more than 140 Iranian and international festivals and won various awards for the directing, writing, and research of his three short films: Orange, Whistle, Father, and 19 documentaries Baghchehban Children, Under Pine Trees, Ceremony at Dawn, Gordafarid Story, Memory of Nei Avaran, Pale Childhood, Nozood, Veteran Rider, Nowruz Melody, Soorat Khani, Plain Grove, Offer, Nowruz Tehran Time, Lost Orchards, Paradises of Imagination, In Tehran Style, Ofus, Oblivion Migration.
Some of the documentaries made by Afarideh have been screened in renowned universities such as UCLA, Dutch Anthropology Society, and international television channels such as the BBC.
At present, he is teaching cinema direction and holding documentary filmmaking classes in Iranian Youth Cinema Society and Iranian Contemporary Arts Academy and he organises documentary filmmaking workshops.

Hadi Afarideh in juries and selection teams:
Manager of research group and member of the selection team in Bagh Ferdows Cultural and Film Festival in Iranian Cinema Museum, 2008
Selection team member in 12th Iranian Cinema Grand Feast, 2008
Jury member in 2nd Ashura Film Image Festival, 2008
Jury member in 1st Zabul Short Film Festival, 2010
Selection team member in 1st Standard Image Film Festival, 2010
Selection team member in 9th Annual Image Feast and Artist Image Film Festival, 2011
Selection team member in 1st Filmmaking Olympiad in Esfahan Children and Adolescents Festival, 2015
Jury member in 8th Ministry of Health and Hygiene Cinema Festival, 2016
Member of academy jury of sciences and techniques of the arts in the Iranian Cinema in Cinema House, 2017
Selection team member in 34th Tehran International Short Films Festival, 2017
He has also been the public relations manager of Iranian Short Film Association in 2009 and member of the board of directors of Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association in 2013 and 2014.
At present, he is a member of Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association and Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA).

Filmography:

Documentaries: Iranian Pet Club, Ofus, Oblivion Migration, In Tehran Style, Paradises of Imagination, Lost Orchards, Nowruz Tehran Time, Offer, Plain Grove, Soorat Khani, Nowruz Melody, Nozood, Veteran Rider, Forgotten Tree, Pale Childhood, Memory of Nei Avaran, Gordafarid Story, Ceremony at Dawn, Under Pine Trees, Baghchehban Children

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Pelan #43: House of Sun

• Director: Mahdi Bagheri

• Screening: June 7, 2020, 7 p.m.
• /
• Cloud video Screening via Zoom

• Run time: 70

40 years of life, love and hate in the streets of Naser Khosrow. This film is the history of Naser Khosrow's street in the Udlagan neighborhood and Shams al-Amareh Palace, as well as the square of the artillery, Imam Khomeini Square in 1400 years.

About Director:

Mahdi Bagheri was born in 1981 in Tehran and graduated in directing from Tehran Film School. In addition to making documentaries, he is a photographer and film editor. His films have been awarded several prizes at national and international festivals, including Best Documentary and Best Director. Old Boy and Residents of One Way Street are two of his most famous documentaries as a director.

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Pelan #42: Secrets of the Surface

• Director: George Csicsery

• Screening: May 10, 2020, 7 p.m.
• /
• Cloud video Screening via Zoom

• Run time: 59

Filmed in Canada, Iran, and the United States, Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani examines the life and mathematical work of Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian immigrant to the United States who became a superstar in her field. In 2014, she was both the first woman and the first Iranian to be honored by mathematics’ highest prize, the Fields Medal.

Mirzakhani’s contributions are explained in the film by leading mathematicians and illustrated by animated sequences. Her mathematical colleagues from around the world, as well as former teachers, classmates, and students in Iran today, convey the deep impact of her achievements. The path of her education, success on Iran’s Math Olympiad team, and her brilliant work make Mirzakhani an ideal role model for girls looking toward careers in science and mathematics.

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Pelan #41: President Mir Qanbar

• Director: Mohammad Shirvani

• Screening: April 26, 2020, 7 p.m.
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• Cloud video Screening via Zoom

• Run time: 70

Mir Qanbar is a 75-year-old retired civil servant from a remote province far from Tehran, the capital of Iran. He is taking part in the presidential elections and campaign. He has tried to get into Parliament five times before and on three previous occasions to become president, but was disqualified on all manner of grounds. His campaign team is made up of one staff member, the disabled Seifollah, who has been promised a position as Minister of Health. The means available to Mir Qanbar and Seifollah on their campaign are a donkey, pamphlets and a megaphone, with which they travel from village to village. Mir Qanbar is a poor villager, so he understands better than anyone what the people need: this, in essence, is his message. But in order to help the people, he must first be accepted as a candidate.

About the filmmaker:
Mohammad Shirvani is an Iranian alternative filmmaker. He was born in 1973 in Tehran; he quit painting to follow his passion for cinema. Shirvani has escaped from military service to make his first short film "The Circle" in 1999. This film was selected for the Critics' Week International Cannes festival in the same year. As of 2013, Shirvani has made 18 films; the last one "Fat Shaker" won the Golden Tiger for the best film at Rotterdam Film Festival. His films have been screened in more than 500 international events where he won many prizes, such as; Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Locarno, Toronto, Tribeca and Busan. Although he could not screen them widely in his homeland.

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Pelan #40: My City Pizza

• Director: Ala Mohseni

• Screening: April 10, 2020, 7:30 p.m.
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• Cloud video Screening via Zoom

• Run time: 26

They still prefer sheep's head, a group of elderly men say. But the struggle seems lost: it would seem as if pizza is here to stay. These days, young people are meeting up in pizzerias rather than kebab joints or traditional Iranian restaurants. For lack of clubs, the pizzeria is also the preeminent place to get a whiff of the much-desired Western freedom and looseness.
This light-hearted, amusing, fast-paced documentary about eating habits in modern Tehran offers a kaleidoscopic view of Iranian society. We see young people, old people, progressive and conservative Iranians who all reveal their identity by telling us what they think of Italian fast food in the capital. A young man claims that eating pizza is bad, a sign of a decadent lifestyle. For relaxation, he goes to the cemetery to pray for the martyrs, and every other year, he gets an injection to suppress his urges and desires. His favourite dish: sheep's head. The film introduces another young man, a fan of the American actor Marlon Brando, who opened a pizzeria and called it Godfather. Meanwhile, the authorities have changed the name to Aladdin.

AWARDS
● Best Short film /Oxdox Int’l Documentary Film Festival/Oxford/UK/2009
● Best Documentary /3rd Intl Urban Film Festival/Iran/2009
● Best Short film /4th Int’l Farhang Film Festival/USA/2012
● Best Short film /Noor Int’l Film Festival/USA/2013

OFFICIAL SELECTION
● Silver Cub Competition Idfa/Netherlands/2008
● Tehran International Short Film festival/Iran/2008
● A night in Tehran (Screening)/ Bristol, Manchester, London/UK/2009
● BigPond Adelaide Film Festival/Australia/2009
● The Chelsea Art Museum/USA/2009
● Starz Denver Film Festival/USA/2009
● Iran's Film Festival/Zaandam/Netherlands/2009
● The Boston Festival of Films from Iran/Boston/USA/ 2010
● The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/USA/2010
● 22nd Int'l short Film Festival Dresden/ Germany/2010
● Syracuse Int'l Film Festival/USA/2010
● Das Iranische Wien /Austria/ 2011
● Stanford University(Screening)/Stanford/USA/2013
● 16th UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival)/Palo Alto/USA/2013

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Pelan #39: Masoumeh

• Director: Sona Moghaddam

• Screening: Feb. 21, 2020, 6 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1415

• Run time: 65

MASOUMEH ATAE is attacked brutally by acid by her ex-husband's father 1.5 years after the divorce. Despite losing her sight and severe burning, she tries to obtain the custody of her son.

Writer, director and producer: Sona Moghaddam
Director of Photography: Mehdi Aslani
Editor: Babak Behdad,
Sound Recordist: Ali Alavi,
Sound Designer and Mix: Ensieh Maleki, Color Correction: Behzad Nalbandi
Title Designer: Shahrzad Darafsheh
Legal Advisor of Director: Mina Jafari
Distributor: SilkRoadFilm Company

Festivals:
-Winner the Grand prize as the best Documentary in International Pesaro Documentary film festival 2016, Italy.
-Winner the grand prize and the best documentary film in International women's voices now film festival, USA 2017...
-Official selection in "world story " section International Krakow film festival 2016, Poland.
-Official selection in Cinema Vrite International Film Festival 2016, IRAN.
-Nominated the best Documentary film in (BIFF) International Documentary Film Festival 2016,Brasilia .
-Official selection Beirut International Film Festival, 2016 Lebanon.
-Official selection in Guanghan International Documentary Film Festival 2016, china.
-Official selection in Washington Dc independent film festival 2017, USA.
-Official selection in Women’s films Festival PARVIN, 2017 IRAN.
-Official selection in International Sidney film festival 2017, Australia.

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Pelan #38: Fading Portraits

• Director: Ali Shilandari

• Screening: Jan. 17, 2020, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 75

A rare insight into a society where the government plays a pivotal role in artists’ lives and control the fate of their work. The predicament that artists in such societies face is that when the artist’s voice is not heard, it as if the artist does not even exist. Iran is one such society, and Maryam Zandi is one such artist. A renowned documentarian and photographer, Zandi is attempting to publish her photos of the 1979 Revolution and is faced with a dilemma: To give in to the Ministry of Culture & Islamic Guidance’s demand to omit several photos, or to maintain her persistence that historical events cannot be censored.

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Pelan #37: Zemnako

• Director: Mehdi Ghorbanpour

• Screening: Nov. 8, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 62

“Zemnako” is a young man who finds out that after the chemical bombardment of Halabja of Iraq in 1988 by Saddam Hussein, he has been brought to Iran and adopted by an Iranian woman. As a single mother, she couldn't get an Iranian ID for him. When his foster mother passes away, he decides to go to Kurdistan of Iraq to find his relatives.

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Pelan #36: Razmara: A Silent Dossier

• Director: Ehsan Emadi

• Screening: Aug. 30, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 78

The mysterious murder of Lieutenant General Haji Ali Razmara and the factors and figures involved in his assassination.

In Farsi with English subtitles.
Run time: 78 minutes

No ticket sales. On A First-come, First-served Basis.
We accept your donations and this will help us to continue these series of events.

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Pelan #35: Karun, Misadventures On Iran’s Longest River

• Director: Tom Allen, Leon McCarron

• Screening: July 26, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 57

British adventurers Tom Allen and Leon McCarron set out to follow Iran’s longest river, the Karun, by human powered means. Their aim is to go beyond the politics and explore the culture and geography of this most misunderstood of nations – and have a great adventure doing so. But despite Tom’s previous experience of travel in Iran, they find that cultural differences run deeper than they’d realized. And when the once-calm waters of the Karun turn nasty, they wonder if they’ve bitten off more than they can chew…

Watch trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTX1-VvfqCY

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Pelan #34: Overruled

• Director: Farnaz Jurabchian

• Screening: May 24, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 58

Over one million Afghans live as refugees in neighboring Iran. For Ismael, Golagha, Kashmir and Nader, the flawed Iranian asylum laws leave them in legal limbo and under constant threat of deportation. To eke out a living, they work as ball boys in Tehran's upper-class tennis clubs. With observational skill and heartfelt sensitivity, the film shares the reality of their struggles.

Golagha and his friends dream of winning a tennis tournament for the substantial prize money. Ismael, the charismatic Bruce Lee look-alike, has the talent to do it but legal barriers and unkind officials pose impossible obstacles. As another way out, the friends seriously ponder the life-threatening journey to an unknown fate in the West. Given the contemporary flood of images of refugees arriving on the shores of Europe, Overruled deals with an important and often overlooked part of the bigger picture, examining refugee struggles in Asia.

About filmmakers:

Born in Tehran, Iran, Farnaz Jurabchian received her BFA in Cinema from The Melhoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University in Montreal and MohammadReza Jurabchian received his BFA in photography from University of Art and Architecture in Tehran. Together the brother and sister collaborate in several short and documentary films which have been selected for a number of international film festivals worldwide.

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Pelan #33: Love Trilogy

• Director: Iman Behrouzi

• Screening: April 26, 2019, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 100

In this event we look at three short documentaries made by Iman Behrouzi which revolve around love expression in a personal life, a family and a society in Iran.

1) A Movie For You (2015)-25 minutes
Synopsis: An Iranian filmmaker wants to move to Germany. There is a problem, though. He has to leave his girlfriend behind. Forced to choose between love and ambitions, he plans to make a film of their first date. He asks some of his friends to stand in while he chooses one of them for playing the role of his girlfriend. A documentary about love and longing set in nowadays Iran.

2) Amour du Réel/Real Love (2017)-28 minutes
Synopsis: After working abroad for several years, the filmmaker returns to his family home in Shiraz, Iran to make a film for the woman he loves. His exploration of his feelings and of the cross-cultural and geographical barriers to pursuing this relationship eventually spark introspection among members of his family, as they express their emotions to one another in new ways in front of the camera. A documentary about cross-generational understandings of love and emotion set in current day Iran.

3) Love in Close-Up (2018)-47 Minutes
Synopsis: This time, our filmmaker tries to explore how people think about publicly-expressed-love by asking three women how much they know about Ferdowsi square's "Lady in Red" and what they think about it and link it to their love stories in three episodes confined in a car.

In Farsi with English subtitles.

About filmmaker:
Born in 1984 in Shiraz, Iran. He studied cinema and directing at University of Tehran in Iran. He has directed and edited several documentaries and short fiction films. His previous documentary, "A Movie for You," was selected officially by the Visions du Réel and by the Zurich film festivals in 2015.

Filmography:
2018 Love in Close-Up (mid-length documentary)
2017 Amour du Réel (short documentary)
2015 A Movie For You (short documentary)
2013 Window into Tehran (short documentary)
2005 Beside These Roads (short film)
2005 Behind These Windows (short film)
2004 Shaver (short film)
2003 It is not Clear Yet ... (short film)

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Pelan #32: Iranian Short Animation Night

• Screening: March 23, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 90

We are going to celebrate the Iranian new year with a collection of short animations from independent artists who are living inside Iran. This is our second session of the Iranian short animation night and we are planning to continue these sessions in future with more and diverse works from Iranian artist inside and outside Iran.

00-Aperture (Amir Mehran)
01-Based on Photo (Elika Mehranpour)
02-The Role of Each Fret (Maryam Farahzadi)
03-Lady With Flower-Hair (Sara Tabibzadeh)
04-Tree (Sareh Shafipour)
05-Junk Girl (Mohammad Zare, Shalale Kheiri)
06-Changeover (Mehdi Alibeygi)
07-The Butterfly Man (Amir Mehran)
08-Digital Native (Mahboobeh Mohammadzaki)
09-Who'd Cut The Lights (Amin Haghshenas)

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Pelan #31: “Mouth Harp in Minor Key”

• Director: Maryam Sepehri

• Screening: Feb. 15, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 62

Exile as a radically transformative experience is the theme of this documentary tracing the journey of Hamid Naficy from his boyhood growing up in Iran under the Shah to the 1979 Revolution, when he was studying in the U.S., to his present as the foremost historian of Iranian cinema and renowned authority on Iranian diaspora culture. Filmmaker Maryam Sepehri explores the impact of history before and after the Islamic Revolution on the generation of those whose lives are divided between early life in the homeland and adulthood in permanent exile in the West. The film portrays Naficy’s unique role as an interpreter of the experience in all of its complexity.

About the filmmaker:

Maryam Sepehri was born in Iran. Her family moved to Tehran when she was 17. She began her university career by studying medicine and then worked for a few years in a medical lab. After that, she returned to school to get a B.A. in film making (2010) and an M.A. in photography (2012). For many years she has made short films and taken photographs, as well as writing short stories and translating from English to Farsi.

Her documentary film Rain Once Again (2012) won the award for best documentary film at the Sooreh International Short Film Festival and was nominated in this category at the 28th Tehran International Short Film Festival. Her next documentary, Thicker than Paint (2013) won the Special Cream City Cinema Jury Prize at the 5th Milwaukee Film Festival. Her photographs have been exhibited in Iran, Italy, and Germany, and her short stories and travelogues (some with accompanying photographs) have been published in Iran in book and magazine form.

Mouth Harp in Minor Key (2017) is her last documentary till now which was nominated for several prizes including best film, best editing and best director in the 11th IRAN International Documentary Film Festival “CINEMA VERITE” and House of Cinema.

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Pelan #30: “Portrait Of A Woman Beside Me”

• Director: Pouria Jahanshad

• Screening: Jan. 18, 2019, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 70

Decision making is one of the difficulties that we are deeply involved in our life. In societies like Iran, women usually must make complicated choices. Choosing between studying and getting married, working and taking care of children, having social activities and accepting the common expectations of society from women.

“Niloofar”, however, as an Iranian architect who has worked hard for her professional position for years and has serious social concerns, is not going to choose between social activities and the baby she is giving life to in her body.

This documentary portrays Niloofar’s efforts, her concerns, and her special corporeal and mental conditions from the viewpoint of her filmmaker husband who has tried to make a balance between filmmaking and playing the role of father/husband; a hard task, though not as hard as what his wife is trying to achieve.

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Pelan #29: “Painter of Wind”

• Director: Ezzatollah Parvezeh

• Screening: Nov. 23, 2018, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1800

• Run time: 46

Bijan Bahadori Kashkuli (1928-2015), a Qashqai ethnographer painter, never received any formal education in painting. Painter of Wind (2015) follows Kashkuli’s last years of life as he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The documentary portrays the painter’s art and life by exploring his paintings as well as interviews with family, friends, artists, and the Qashqai people. Bahadori’s paintings are today used as documents for anthropological studies on the Qashqai culture.

Music: Karang Karbasi
Director of Photography: Ebrahim Moradi
Sound Editing: Mojtaba Habibollahi
The movie is in Persian and Qashqai Turki with the English subtitles.

About the director:

Ezzatollah Parvezeh (born in 1973, Shahre-Kord, Iran), won the Best Film award for his documentary Knit Doll in 2014 Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival, Qatar. His last documentary, My Mother, My Tribe (2017) is about a nomad woman who migrates to the city to raise her visually-impaired children that succeed in music and literature. In December 2017, My Mother, My Tribe won the special jury award at the 11th Cinema Verite festival, Iran’s major international documentary festival.

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Pelan #28: “Gambler and other short films”

• Director: Karim Lakzadeh

• Screening: Oct. 19, 2018, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 67

A GIRL IN THE ROOM (2016)
An elderly man works at a guest house with his friends. His daughter is coming to visit him after 25 years of living in Germany. The old man and his friends are preparing her visit.
Run Time: 26’40”
Cast: Yousefali Daryadel, Mohammad Mohammadloo, Sonia Sanjari, Jafar Vahabpour,
Director of Photography: Pouyan Ranjbar,

THE GAMBLER (2015)
In a misty village, on the top of a mountain, two gamblers stupefy an old one and take him to his deserted cottage located in the middle of the jungle for revenge. They bury him alive in his own garden and find his mon…
Run Time: 20’0″
Cast: Shahbaz Asadi, Behzad Dorani,
Director of Photography: Pouyan Ranjbar,

JILA (2014)
Sisters Zahra and Zeynab were born hairless. Their close friend Jila brings home an old woman who can supposedly cure them. Despite their initial reluctance, they very quickly take to the …
Run Time: 20’0″
Starring: Jila Daei, Zeynab Ebnrahimi, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi

About Director:
Karim Lakzadeh (born in 1986, Iran/Shiraz) is an Iranian filmmaker and playwright. In 2004, he graduated from Theater School where he studied writing for theatre and cinema along with directing for TV. His play The Fortress won him the Best Experimental Theater Prize, 2008, Tehran. Karim Lakzadeh has directed 7 short films that have been screened in Iran, amongst them Jila (2014) and Gambler (2015) and A girl in the room (2016) have been screened at many film festivals and fetched him international recognition.

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Pelan #27: “Fest of Duty”

• Director: Firouzeh Khosrovani

• Screening: Sept. 21, 2018, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1800

• Run time: 51

‘Fest of Duty’ (جشن تکلیف) is a religious ceremony designed to establish Islamic beliefs and values in girls when they reach the age of nine. The film follows two adolescent cousins as they enter into adulthood eight years after their official Fest of Duty.

About Director:

Firouzeh Khosrovani (born in Iran) settled in Italy to complete her art studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Brera. She made her filmmaking debut with a documentary about the Iran-Iraq War. In 2007, she directed a documentary “Rough Cut” which won several international awards. In 2011, she participated in a collective project Espelho Meu, winner of the Best National Documentary Award in Documenta Madrid. In 2012, she made documentary “Iran, Unveiled and Veiled Again”.
In 2014 she produced and directed “Fest of Duty” and also participated in a group project titled “Profession: Documentarist” with six independent women documentary filmmakers from Iran – who were brought together by the desire to capture the world around them. “Radiography of a Family” is her latest film which portrays the story of a daughter of a secular father and a devout mother.

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Pelan #26: “Passion of Ebraam”

• Director: Hamed Zolfaghari

• Screening: March 17, 2017, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1600

• Run time: 52

A portrait documentary movie about Ebrahim Monsefi (Rami), poet and musician from Hormozgan province, who has had a great influence on the literature, art and the music of south if Iran.

A portrait documentary movie about Ebrahim Monsefi (Rami), poet and musician from Hormozgan province, who has had a great influence on the literature, art and the music of south if Iran.

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Pelan #25: "Revolution Road, The Professor Nejatollahi Crossing"

• Director: Nassim Najafi

• Screening: Nov. 18, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 53

Right after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the replacement of the Pahlavi dynasty by the Islamic Republic regime, many street names were changed to the names of the martyrs of the Revolution. Some of these names were historically famous and familiar for Iranian people but some other were totally unknown and unfamiliar individuals. One of them was Kamran Nejatollahi. This documentary is about him and other university professors, whom tried to raise their voices and organize a peaceful protest against the regime of Shah; the killing of Kamran during demonstrations; the tribunal of his presumed assassin in the revolutionary court; the lives of his colleagues after that; and finally their feelings and thoughts about what they wanted to achieve in those days: A Revolution!

Director:

Nassim Najafi begun her film studies in 2006 in Tehran Film School after finishing engineering studies in university. Her early works consist of an experimental short film and a documentary about one of the Iranian films (part of a bigger project focusing on Iranian cinema). The idea for her new documentary was very simple: "Who was Kamran Nejatollahi?". She spent three years of extensive researches on this topic to collect enough materials (interviews, photos,historical facts and footages) for making her first independent documentary "Revolution Road, The Professor Nejatollahi Crossing". The movie sheds lights on part of Iran's history after revolution that we are not necessarily aware of that.

The movie was screened in "Iran International Documentary Film Festival, "Cinema Verite" and "House of Cinema Festival" competition. Nassim is still working in Iranian film industry as an editor, production manager, film critic, and documentary maker. She is currently working on her new documentary.

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Pelan #24: “I Akbar Etemad, Split Atoms”

• Director: Ahmadreza Ganjei and Vahid Hosseini

• Screening: Oct. 17, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1425

• Run time: 82

"I Akbar Etemad, Split Atoms" is a documentary about Akbar Etemad portrays his life through interviewing him and by using real footages and historical facts and documents.

Akbar Etemad was the president of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran from 1974 to 1978. He is popularly called the father of Iran's nuclear program. After the 1979 Iranian revolution, he left Iran and established office in Paris and worked there as a nuclear energy consultant (Wikepedia).

This documentary explores Etemad's works and thoughts about Iran before and after revolution, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and the way he govrned the country and also Iran's nuclear projects and ambitious before and after 1979.

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Pelan #23: “Parviz”

• Director: Majid Barzegar

• Screening: June 12, 2016, 6 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Fletcher Theatre

• Run time: 107

Despite his 50 years Parviz still lives off his father and the two men don’t get on very well. Things come to a head when the father tells his son he has decided to remarry. Parviz has no other choice but surrender his place to his step-mother and leave home. Parviz finds it difficult to get used to this new solitary life far from his neighborhood and the people he knows. He thus concocts a novel way of fighting back against the injustice done to him.

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Pelan #22: "First Iranian Short Animation Night"

• Director: Ahmadreza Ganjei and Vahid Hosseini

• Screening: March 14, 2016, 7 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1800

• Run time: 82

For this month’s Pelan, we plan to take you on an exciting ride with a collection of 10 short animations made by young talented artists who live and work in Iran. These are unlike animations you've seen from the other Iranian animators. This is an eye opening project as it contains a range of funny, musical, colorful artworks as well as black and white, sharp and heart wrenching stories. Whatever they are, we are sure that these honest and sometimes very personal stories will tickles your senses.

List of the animations:

1. Mr. Violet (Abbas Jalali Yekta & Mohammad Hossein Azam Pour)-2014|4min
2. Above the Gray Clouds (Sare Shafipour)-2010|8min
3. Based on Photo (Elika Mehranpour)-2015|7min
4. Little Boy (Mona Abdollah-Shahi)-2015|8min
5. Lima (Afshin Roshanbakht &Vahid Jafari)-2015|15min
6. Stop it! I’m Out (Moin Samadi)-2003|10min
7. Insan (Mehdi Aghajani)-2012|8min
8. Lady with Flower- Hair (Sarah Tabibzadeh)-2013|10min
9. Changeover (Mehdi Alibeygi)-2015|2min
10. From Easter Lands (Sarah Tabibzadeh)-2015|5min

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Pelan #21: “Molf Gand”

• Director: Mahmoud Rahmani

• Screening: Feb. 15, 2016, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1800

• Run time: 53

Mohammad who is forty turns to a 7-year-old boy in front of camera and narrates the story of Iran-Iraq war in a passionate way. Mohammad believes that some of the bad events during war had happened because of his bad childish guesses (Molf-e Gand).

Director:

Mahmoud Rahmani (born 1980, Izeh, Khuzestan), made his first short film, “Gagola” in 2003, and “Oha” (dragon) in 2004. He made his first documentary, “Naft Sepid” in 2005, which was well received inside and outside of Iran and was screened at several film festivals such as IDFA, Cinema du Reel, and more. His second documentary film “Zero Degree Orbit” was produced in 2007 and received more than 15 prizes at in Iran and internationally. His latest documentary, “Molf-e Gand” was made in 2009.

Awards:

Winner of best film from Nuremberg human rights international film festival, special jury prize of Cassel festival, award of best original film from Belgium film festival, winner of Brussels Millennium Film Festival,…

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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.

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Pelan #19: "Out Of Focus"

• Director: Shahriar Siami

• Screening: Dec. 14, 2015, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 52

Out of Focus profiles an Iranian artist Afshin Naghouni, a well known Iranian-British painter born and raised in Iran, who suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury during a birthday party in Tehran when he fell from the seventh floor of a building while trying to escape from Iranian police. He was able to move to UK seventeen years ago for treatment and has rebuilt his life, getting married and now working as an artist from his wheelchair. His paintings are in large scales and some of them are shown in very famous London galleries with high prices. He usually paints women in hijab or nude which their bodies are collages of the western women photos or the other way around.

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Pelan #18: "Dingomaro"

• Director: Kamran Heidari

• Screening: Nov. 20, 2015, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2270

• Run time: 66

Since his Internet hit, "Bad Shans" (hard luck), Hamid Said has become one of the most famous black musicians in Iran. He’s travelling by motorbike across the province of Hormozgan, which is situated in the South of the country on the Persian Gulf, in order to realize his dream. He wants to organize a concert with the best black musicians in the country.

Besides Persians, Indians, Arabs and Europeans, the province of Hormozgan, Iran’s “black south” has been influenced primarily by the descendants of slaves and merchants from Africa. Although Shiites, they still hold Voodoo ceremonies just as their African ancestors did and wakes in Hormozgan are more reminiscent of scenes from New Orleans, with the mourners dancing in an elated and joyous manner to black rhythms.

Filmmaker Kamran Heidari accompanies Hamid Said as he attempts to make his dream come true. He must overcome numerous hurdles along the way: Hormozgan’s landscape, which is as inhospitable as it is breathtaking, traveling from the coast over rugged mountains to the desert, the African spirit rites; and the resistance of his wife, who is completely against his plan.

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Pelan #17: “Plane Grove (Chenarestan)"

• Director: Hadi Afarideh

• Screening: Sept. 14, 2015, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 2945

• Run time: 67

The 17km Vali Asr street with 60,000 plane trees connects the south of Tehran to the North. Afarideh's film portrays past hundred years of modern Tehran by looking at the longest street in the Middle East as a manifestation and remembrance of social and political events.

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Pelan #16: "Jerry & Me"

• Director: Mehrnaz Saeedvafa

• Screening: Aug. 13, 2015, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1600

• Run time: 38

Iranian filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeedvafa examines questions of identity utilizing a surprising metaphor: the comedies of Jerry Lewis. While a young girl in pre-revolutionary Tehran, Saeedvafa was fascinated by the spastic Jewish funnyman who was often dubbed into Farsi. Years later, she reconsiders all things Jerry in the light of an uncomfortable personal encounter.

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Pelan #15: "The 17s"

• Director: Atieh Attarzadeh & Aslan Shahebrahimi

• Screening: July 16, 2015, 6 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1600

• Run time: 51

“The 17s” is the story of four urban teenagers in contemporary Iran in their own words. In order to make a film about the lifestyle of these teens and see their points of views, which is quite different from the life of the previous generation, the filmmakers decided to place the camera in their hands and ask them to film their own life, under the supervision of the directors during a year.

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Pelan #14: "Residents of one-way street"

• Director: Mehdi Bagheri

• Screening: June 8, 2015, 6:30 p.m.
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• SFU Harbour Centre - Room 1600

• Run time: 55

Title 1: “Suddenly you went missing" (2013)- 26 min-English subtitle
Synopsis: 35 days of street resistance by civilian people of Khorramshahr through the photos and diaries of Behrouz Moradi who was killed in Iran-Iraq war.

Title 2: "Residents of one-way street" (2014)-55 min- English subtitle
Synopsis: Exploring the history and the memories of 30 Tir Street, door by door with six residents of this one way street.

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Pelan #13: “I am not nuclear energy” and “We are all soldiers”

• Director: Mehdi Ghorbanpour

• Screening: April 22, 2015, 6 p.m.
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• Simon Fraser University

• Run time: 30

“I am not nuclear energy” shows how high level radioactive rays in Ramsar, a small town north of Iran, heats up debates among rivals in the town council election.

“We are all soldiers” portrays history of compulsory military services in Iran from Constitutional Revolution to Islamic Revolution which has been told through the rare footages and interviews.

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Pelan #12: “Hop in with smile, please!” and “Khavar Khanoom”

• Director: Reza Abbasi, Kaveh Haddadi

• Screening: March 18, 2015, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

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Pelan #11: “Thicker than paint” and “Rain, Once again”

• Director: Maryam Sepehry

• Screening: Jan. 28, 2015, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

“Thicker than Paint” is a portrait of an Iranian woman, a self-taught artist, who finds her way through all struggles of life. By starting from her everyday experiences, the film depicts how she reached her own vision, and style by internalizing all outside worlds’ troubles, and rendering them within her own unique paintings.

“Rain, Once again” depicts Louise Firouz’s love and perseverance in finding ponies suitable for children resulted in one of the most significant equestrian discoveries of recent times – the Caspian horse, believed to be extinct for 1300 years.

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Pelan #10: “444 Days”

• Director: Mohammad Shirvani

• Screening: Jan. 21, 2015, 6 p.m.
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• Simon Fraser University

444-Day Face-Off highlights the story of the Iran hostage crisis, when Iranian university students took over the US embassy in Tehran back in 1979. Both the hostages and the former students talk about what happened from their points of view and reflect upon their personal experiences during the 444-day ordeal. John Limbert, fluent in Farsi because of his long stay in Iran and marriage to an Iranian woman, is one of the former US diplomats to discuss the hostage-taking. 444-Day Face-Off is in fact the history of Iran’s Islamic Revolution up until the time of the crisis. Drawing on their experiences, these people also talk about present Tehran-Washington relations and the prospects of improvements in future ties between the two countries.

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Pelan #9: “A Survivor from Magadan”

• Director: Aref Mohammadi

• Screening: Nov. 20, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

• Run time: 52

This is a true story of Dr. Ata Safavi, a retired urologist who currently lives in Toronto. In 1947. at the age of 20, Safavi, a leftist activist in Iran was threatened by (Mohammad Reza) Shah's agents with exile to a remote town in south of Iran. Thus, he decided to escape to the Soviet Union, envisioned by many Iranians as the Communists' paradise. For his attempted illegal entry into the soviet union, he was immediately captured and sentenced to two years in prison, where he was obliged to work in a brick works factory. Later KGB, agents took him for additional investigations and convicted him for espionage for imperialism to spend twenty five years in a prison in Magadan, a town located in northeastern Russia and a part of Siberia, While most of his three thousands fellow prisoners died or committed suicide, Ata decided to fight for his right to live. This is the story of his best years spent in the most inhuman circumstances. (Source: imdb)

Pelan #8: “Futile Garden” and “… And the Blue Sky”

• Director: Ghazale Soltani

• Screening: Oct. 20, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

• Run time: 19

"Futile Garden" is a short drama film, directed by Ghazaleh Soltani, selected in Cannes short film corner 2014.
"... and the blue sky" is an intimate documentary shedding light on the life of veteran Iranian actor, Ezzatollah Entezami.

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Pelan #7: “The Red Card”

• Director: Mahnaz Afzali

• Screening: July 16, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

• Run time: 73

'The Red Card' focuses on one of the most complicated and controversial criminal cases in Iran's judiciary history. It follows the trail of 34-year-old woman Shahla Jahed, who in 2002 was arrested for the brutal murder of Laleh Saharkhizan, the wife of famous Iranian footballer Naser Mohammadkhani. In the film, director Mahnaz Afzalli powerfully conveys the circumstances surrounding the trial, including public responses to the murder, and the long-time love affair between Jahed and Mohammadkhani which led to the murder. Scenes from the court sessions, and honest moments of confession that bring taboos out into the open add to the drama of this fascinating documentary.<

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Pelan #6: “Within the Unfinished Streets” and “My Home”

• Director: Pirouz Kalantari, Mohsen Amiryousefi

• Screening: June 12, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

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Pelan #5: “21 Days and Me”

• Director: Shirin Barghnavard

• Screening: April 10, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

• Run time: 58

In '21 Days and Me,' experimental documentary filmmaker Shirin Baraghnavard examines a complicated moment of her own life. As a 35 year old woman who has been married for 11 years, Baraghnavard believes she still has plenty of time to decide whether she wants to become a mother or not. However, the discovery of a fibroma in her womb suddenly makes the decision more urgent. Because the fibroma requires surgery to remove it, and Baraghnavard's doctor has told her the best time to get pregnant is directly after the surgery, she can no longer afford to wait. With compelling openness, Baraghnavard records the emotional journey she takes during the 21 days leading up to the operation as she struggles with the issues of her decision. (Source: imvbox)

Pelan #4: “The Absence of Mr or Mrs B”

• Director: Reza Daryanoush & Fima Emami

• Screening: March 18, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• Emily Carr University

• Run time: 60

The Absence of Mr. and Mrs. B Under social pressure, an infertile Iranian couple undergoes multiple in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments that drain both their finances and their marital bond. Both Mr. and Mrs. B take turns threatening divorce and then reconciling in a truly confusing dance of passion and punishment.

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Pelan #3: "Blank"

• Director: Amir Naeim Hoseini

• Screening: Jan. 28, 2014, 6 p.m.
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• University of British Columbia

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Pelan #2: “021, Tehran” and “Tight Skin”

• Director: Mohammad Shirvani

• Screening: Nov. 21, 2013, 6 p.m.
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• University of British Columbia

• Run time: 51

Mohammad Shirvani is an Iranian alternative filmmaker.He was born in 1973 in Tehran; he quit Painting to follow his passion for Cinema. Shirvani has escaped from military service to make his first short film "The Circle" in 1999. This film was selected for the Critics' Week International Cannes festival in the same year. Until 2013, Shirvani has made 18 films; the last one "Fat Shaker" won the Golden Tiger for the best film in Rotterdam Film Festival. His films have been screened in more than 500 international events where he won many prices, such as, Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Locarno, Toronto, Tribeca and Busan. Although he could not screen them widely in his homeland. In 2014, Shirvani published 18 films which he produced on his personal website as a protest against censorship in Iranian cinema.This movement was widely greeted by the public. Unfortunately, a month later his website was banned and making new films became temporarily forbidden for him. However, since 2012,he has been trying to keep Iranian alternative cinema movement alive and fresh by improving young talents through his "Alternative Cinema Workshop" (Source: Wikipedia)

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Pelan #1: "President Mir Qanbar"

• Director: Mohammad Shirvani

• Screening: Aug. 22, 2013, 6 p.m.
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• University of British Columbia

• Run time: 70

President Mir Qanbar is a 2005 Iranian documentary film directed by Mohammad Shirvani. The film follows Mir Qanbar, an elderly Iranian man, as he campaigns in the country's presidential election.

The film won the Award of Excellence at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 2005 and in 2007 won the Audience Favorite award at the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles. (Source: Wikipedia)