Iranian Cinema

Spring 2005 Series

Understanding Diversity Through Film

Baran (2001)

Director: Majid Majidi

Running Time: 94 min. | Persian with English subtitles

Rosenberg LLRC Room 305 | Wednesday, February 2, 2005 | 1:00 pm

Winner of the Montreal and Gijón (Spain) International Film Festivals, Baran tells the story of a young Afghan woman who, desperate to find work, poses as an errand boy at a construction site in Tehran. Little by little, her secret is revealed by a young Iranian worker who falls in love with her. In this unconventional romance, the director Majid Majidi portrays the human drama of the illegal immigration of Afghani refugees in Iran.

Blackboards (2000)

Director: Samira Makhmalbaf

Running time: 82 min. | Persian/Kurdish with English subtitles

Rosenberg LLRC Room 305 | Wednesday, February 16, 2005 | 1:00 pm

A group of teachers crosses the mountainous paths of the Iranian Kurdistan. The men wander from one village to the next in search of students, carrying large blackboards on their backs. The boards are sometime used as shelter, camouflage, and shields instead of for teaching purposes. One by one the men venture away from the group in search of students to teach. Along their way, they must face other hardships and obstacles, including unseen enemy helicopters and gunfire.

The Girl in Sneakers

Director: Rausl Sadr-Ameli

Running time: 110 min. | Persian with English subtitles

Rosenberg LLRC Room 305 | Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 1:00 pm

After some unpleasant incidents and in protest against her living conditions, a 15-year-old girl runs away from home. She begins an unknown and mysterious journey through the streets of Tehran. She wanders the big city with her white running shoes on. The movie portrays the dilemma of young modernized Iranians dealing with an oppressive society and searching for freedom.

Maryam

Director: Ramin Serry

Running Time: 90 min. | English

Rosenberg LLRC Room 305 | Wenesday, April 6, 2005 | 1:00 pm

It's 1979 and Mary, an Iranian-American teenager, pursues fun and romance in the New Jersey suburbs. Mary's world is radically transformed, though, when Ali, her fundamentalist cousin, comes to live with her family at the same time that Americans are taken hostage in Iran. An American backlash against Iranians and Ali's disclosure of the family's dark history force Mary to come to terms with her own unique and culturally divided identity.