Still from "Saffron Tea" by Bahar Behbehani, Single Channel Video, 12 Min, 2008

NYU Abu Dhabi presents a solo exhibition by Bahar Behbahani which began Fall 2011 and will run through January 27, 2012.

Behbahani explores her childhood memories of Iran’s turbulent history. Painting the psychological landscape of her upbringing she uses language, cultural symbols and icons to convey the “volatile sense of place” that she experienced as a child and how she perceives it now.

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The Alleys (Kucheha), 2010 by Yalda Sarhaddi

The Iranian Film Festival (IFF) is an annual event showcasing the independent feature and short films made by or about Iranians from around the world, held at the Art Institute of San Francisco.

IFF is also a platform for the Iranian filmmakers living around the globe to express their vision and talent through the artistic medium of film. Continue Reading

The London Iranian Film Festival (UKIFF) welcomes the work of internationally and critically acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi and his award winning film “The Song of Sparrows”, with a special screening on Aug. 22nd, 2011 in London, UK. Continue Reading

Starring Iranian-American actor and comedian, Maz Jobrani, as “Daud’s Father”, the film “David” (winner of the coveted Audience Award at The Brooklyn Film Festival) is about Daud, the son of an Imam at a local mosque in  Brooklyn, as  he ”juggles his father’s high expectations, the dynamics of a conservative family, and being different–even from his peers in the Muslim community”. Continue Reading

Original Photo: UKIFF

UKIFF, the 2nd London Iranian FIlm Festival, aims to bring the “finest Iranian cinema to London.”

And from now until the London Iranian Film Festival which will take place in November 2011, UKIFF will be hosting a series of special screenings, bimonthly. Continue Reading

Logo Courtesy: Festival de Cannes

With all the buzz around Melancholia director, Lars von Trier’s Nazi-related comments, and his subsequent status as ”persona non grata” as declared by the Cannes board of directors, we still can’t help but focus on the Iranians presenting their work(s) at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Although major contenders and Iranian filmmakers, Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, with their films In Film Nist (This Is Not A Film) and Bé Omid é Didar (Hope To See You) respectively, did not make it to the 64th annual festival in south of France due to their imprisonment in Iran, their movies did–discreetly so.

“This Is Not A Film delivers a sharp, measured critique of the conditions that now find him behind bars. A first-person account of the Iranian filmmaker at home awaiting news of his upcoming prison sentencing, it puts a human face on Iranian censorship,” writes Eric Kohn of IndieWire.com.

“[It's] a moving expression of frustration, as well as an eloquent indictment of Iranian society,” he adds. Continue Reading