General – Edinburgh Iranian Festival

15Apr2022

A Message from the Film Curator

I am delighted to welcome you to this year’s Edinburgh Iranian Film Festival!

March 2020 was our last festival, which feels like a very long time ago. It’s a great pleasure to be back here at the Filmhouse!

We have lined up seven films over the next four days and they range from the latest releases to some of the iconic films in in Iranian cinema – from Friday night’s opening screening of Zalava (Arsalan Amiri, 2021), which depicts the power and threats of superstition to our closing film Facing Mirrors (Negar Azarbayjani, 2011), which examines the challenges of transgenders in Iran.

The weekend will have four screenings with five films. Saturday afternoon’s screening includes two films. Parisa Gorgin’s documentary Placement or Displacement (2021), documents the experiences of Iranians who migrated out of Iran and those who chose to return to the homeland. The issue of migration has always been a very hot topic and this makes for an interesting reflection on the experience of those who have undertaken this journey. Making Space: Women and Freedom of Movement (Nacim Pak-Shiraz, 2022) then studies the relationship between gender and space in the works of female filmmakers.

Our Saturday evening screening, Titi (2020), is directed by one of my favourite filmmakers, Ida Panahandeh. We’ve showcased two of Panahandeh’s previous films, Nahid (2015) and Israfil (2017), in our earlier festivals, so you can tell I’m a fan. Titi is a heart-warming story about the transformative power of love in a world that dichotomises reason and the belief in the supernatural.

On Sunday, we have two screenings: Kicking off in the afternoon is an amazing documentary called Radiograph of a Family (2020). Firouzeh Khosravani uses family photographs and archival materials to poetically narrate the differences and tensions in her parental home and how the revolution expanded her mother’s space and shrunk that of her father’s.

Sunday evening sees Careless Crime (2020) by the time- and space-bending director, Shahram Mokri, who is a master of playing with form and the cinematic language. I was delighted to pre-record an interview with him, which will be screened after the film and allow audiences to learn more about his approach to filmmaking. The Q&A will be available after the screening on the festival’s website.

I also want to point out that of the seven films in the festival, five are directed by women. While this wasn’t entirely a conscious decision, I had aimed at achieving a minimum 50/50 representation in line with our practice for some years now and am delighted that it turned out this way.

Finally, I’d like to thank the distributors of the films we’re screening for their help, Filmhouse for its ongoing support of the festival, and the director and trustees of the festival for inviting me to curate another season of Iranian films. And of course, none of this would be possible without the support, enthusiasm and thirst for understanding that our audience demonstrates every year we hold the festival.

Thank you and enjoy the festival!

Professor Nacim Pak-Shiraz, University of Edinburgh
April 2022

15Apr2022

A Message from the Director of the Festival

Welcome to the Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2022!

It’s been two years since our last festival in March 2020. Then, Covid–19 was still a mystery, there was no shortage of hand gel, and while handshakes and hugs had just begun being awkwardly replaced with elbow bumps and footshakes, masks were still not a thing. We have the pictures from the festival’s opening night to prove it!

How much the world has changed since then! The rollercoaster journey of the past two years with its multiple loops of hope and despair has made at least one thing clear – our enduring need to connect, and the vital role that art, music, literature, and film play in order to do so.

And so I am delighted that our festival is back this year, doing its part to stimulate conversation, build bridges, and enable understanding.

There’s something for everyone in our curated line up of film screenings and I hope you’ll find a favourite (or two!) to share and discuss.

On behalf of the trustees of the festival, I would like to thank our volunteers and supporters. A special shout out to Andy Watson and Dr Arash Eshghi for updating our website, Ania Urbanowska and Sarvnaz Geranpayeh for facilitating our social media, and Maryam Zabihifard for creating our poster. And a massive thank you to Professor Nacim Pak-Shiraz for curating a seventh film season for us! And, of course, to the Filmhouse, who share our passion for fabulous films.

Enjoy the screenings and khosh amadid!

Sara Kheradmand

6Mar2020

Welcome to the Festival!

As the Director of the Edinburgh Iranian Festival, I often get asked, “Why do you do this? Don’t you have enough things to juggle in life?” We all do, of course. But I love Iran. I miss it, I miss the people, the smell of fresh taftoon bread, the love of family, the warmth of its welcome when you return, its diversity of culture, food, landscape, and arts.

I’ve been organising cultural events for over 20 years now, starting from my Uni years, and it’s all fueled by the love I feel for the country. I also love living in UK and I guess I’ve tried to make sense of my multiple identities and senses of belonging over those many years. What I have found most surprising is how similar we are! If you look, if you really look, you can find remarkable similarities between cultures, any two cultures, and I find that fascinating. We are more similar than we are different so why not embrace another culture and find out more about it rather than feel distant and alienated by it.

The Edinburgh Iranian Festival is now over a decade old and has grown from strength to strength. This would simply have not been possible without the dedicated team of volunteers and Trustees who work together tirelessly all year round behind the scenes. As members of a charitable organisation, fitting this volunteer work around your day-to-day life can be challenging under the best of circumstances. The festival is proud and fortunate to be able to count on them, year in and year out and I would personally like to thank them.

I would like to thank Ati Naghsh, Mahboobeh, Sahar, Hamid, and Fayaz Alibhai for being there every day and every night and for leading the various projects that have made up the festival in 2020: Ati for designing and producing our festival brochure and handling PR and marketing; Sahar for developing the photo exhibition; Mahboobeh for co-ordinating the Opening Reception and film screening volunteers; Fayaz for facilitating the redesign of our website (through the amazing Andy Watson); and Hamid, our treasurer, for the financial management of our accounts. A big thank you also to Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz for once again curating this year’s film season (her 6th for us!), and to Laleh Sherkat for curating the photo exhibition.

Our 2020 volunteers include Ruhy, Babak, Sorush, Leila and Ayelen, as well as graphic design by Maryam Zabihifard, social media by Sarvnaz Geranpayeh, and website maintenance by Dr Arash Eshghi. There have been over 60 volunteers over the past decade, who have played a role in our success. In years past, the festival would like to acknowledge the significant contributions and efforts of: Anna (one of the founders of the festival); Dr Maryam Ghorbankarimi (film season curator 2009 & 2011); Kamran Jahan (music events consultant); Mona Vaghefian (press and PR); Faranaz (fashion shows and academic seminars). Together with Ati, Sahar and Mahboobeh, then, as now, they have all been essential to the success of the festival. As Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince reminds us, ’And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

To all our trustees, volunteers, sponsors and supporters, you bring a unique perspective, skill set, and patronage to the festival’s programming. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Merci and welcome to the Festival!

Sara Kheradmand

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