War in Iranian Cinema

Barbican Film and the Iran Heritage Foundation in association with the Centro Incontri Umani.

Pedram Khosronejad (documentary films and conference)
Asal Shakeri with Fereshteh Taerpour (feature films)

Cima Media International
Farabi Cinema Foundation
Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults
Kouross Esmaeli
Ravayat-e Fath Institute
Sheherazad Media International.

Iran has a long, rich filmmaking tradition; Iranian movies have been recognized in every corner of the world, yet films made on the subject of war have rarely been shown outside of Iran itself.

This film season includes both feature films and documentaries. The five feature films present the bitter experience of war, not from the front lines but from the experience of ordinary people, and demonstrate how lives, friendships, families, childhood, and love are affected by war. These stories reveal the everyday world of Iranians, distant from the centres of political power, but close to the tragedy and brutality of conflict. The six documentaries deal with life at the front and aspects of the lives of the soldiers in the field. All of the films are related to the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988.

The film season is supplemented by a one day conference on the same subject matter with a special focus on the theme of Martyrdom, which was so central to the Iranian Revolution of 1978 and to the subsequent Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988.

Thu 22 Feb 8pm Cinema 1
Opening Gala
Gilaneh
Followed by a ScreenTalk with director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, in conversation with writer, broadcaster and historian Tariq Ali

A film that depicts people whose love and destiny have been violated and changed by war. It is New Year's Eve during the Iran-Iraq war, and Tehran is being repeatedly attacked with missiles. Gilaneh, a lonely middle-aged villager has to send her son to the war. She must also accompany her daughter to Tehran in search of her son-in-law, who has illegally left the service... 15 years later: again it is New Year's Eve, and Gilaneh - fatigued with life - is taking care of her chemically-wounded son, and is also far away from her daughter.

Iran 2005 Dirs. Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Mohsen Abdolvahab 84 min.
Persian with subtitles
The film also plays on Sun 25 Feb at 2pm in Cinema 3

Fri 23 Feb 6.15pm Cinema 3
Documentary double-bill

Enamoured of Love
Shows one of the most important campaigns of the Iranian army during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war (1st Karbala, Mehran, Qalavizan Mountains, Iran). This film analyses the Iranian revolutionary army and the mystical love and affection of the soldiers for their religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Iran 1988 Dir. Morteza Avini 45 min.
Persian with subtitles

Plus

Recognition
Shows episodes from the life of one of the Iranian soldiers with medical problems resulting from the use of chemical bombs by the Iraqi army. Following the soldier's life until his peaceful death, years after the war, in a Tehran hospital.

Iran 2001 Dir. Ebrahim Asgharzadeh 22 min.
Persian with subtitles

Sat 24 Feb 6.15pm Cinema 3
Documentary double-bill

Living in the Clouds
A documentary showing the intolerable life of Iranian soldiers in Lulan, in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. A unique documentary in which one sees the daily life and humour of Iranian soldiers among each other. Living in the Clouds is recognised as one of the most emotional documentary films made about the Iran-Iraq war.

Iran 1988 Dir. Azizolah Hamidnejad 45 min.
Persian with subtitles

Plus

Captive, Waiting ...
This film shows a group of Iraqi war captives who have spent 20 years in a camp in Iran longing for freedom. But it seems as if the entire world has forgotten them, except for the birds in the camp, which have become their companions.

Iran 2002 Dir. Mohammad Ahmadi 23 min.
Persian with subtitles

Sun 25 Feb at 2pm in Cinema 3
Gilaneh (second showing)

Sun 25 Feb 4pm
Bashu, Little Stranger
One of the most acclaimed films from post-revolutionary Iran, Bashu, Little Stranger tells the story of a young boy who, fleeing the war zone, finds himself in a faraway town where he doesn't even speak the language. A young mother befriends him, helping to ease his painful memories of war as he develops new hope for the future. A beautiful story about the possibility of peace and tolerance amid diversity and conflict.

Iran 1989 Dir. Bahram Beizai 117 min.
Persian/Arabic/Gilaki with subtitles
The film also plays on Wed 28 Feb 6.15pm in Cinema 3

Sun 25 Feb 6.15pm Cinema 3
Kimia
At the onset of the Iran-Iraq War, Reza rushes his pregnant wife to the hospital but is forced to leave and is captured before the baby is born. Nine years later, he returns home to learn that he has lost everyone except his daughter, who has been raised by the doctor who delivered her. Reza faces the torturous decision of whether to claim his child or leave her with the woman she knows as her mother.

Iran 1995 Dir. Ahmad-Reza Darvish 92 min.
Persian with subtitles

Mon 26 Feb 6.15pm Cinema 3
The Legend of Love
The story of a young Kurdish woman who journeys through the mountains of Kurdistan to find her beloved, who is working in a clinic to help the war-struck people of his homeland. Her travels take her into an ancient land of high cliffs and deep-rooted beliefs, offering her a chance to explore the rich layers of ancient Kurdish legend and tradition.

Iran 2000 Dir. Farhad Mehranfar 83 min.
Persian with subtitles

Tue 27 Feb 6.15pm Cinema 3
The Adult Game
In an Iraqi-occupied Iranian town, two young survivors care for a baby they find among the bodies of victims of the invasion. The fact that they are children themselves gives this powerful story extra resonance. Their survival, innocence, and humanity are threatened as they attempt to care for each other when thrust into the violence and lawlessness of war.

Iran 1992 Dir. Kambozia Partovi 85 min.
Persian with subtitles

Wed 28 Feb 6.15pm Cinema 3
Bashu, Little Stranger (second showing)

Sat 24 Feb 10am Cinema 3

Martyr and Martyrdom, and the socio-cultural and religious aspects of the Iran-Iraq war, have never been the subject of serious research in Iran or elsewhere. This will be the first conference on the topic and will look at issues related to war, its symbolic language in, and its influence on, the documentary film of Iran. A special focus of the conference will be on the works of Morteza Avini and his documentary series Narration of Triumph, made during and after Iran-Iraq war. Morteza Avini died while completing his project in the war zone, five years after the war, when he and his co-workers stepped on an unexploded mine. Five academics, critics and artists will present papers.

Language and Symbols of War in the Cinema of Hatamikia
Michael Abecassis, Lecturer at University of Oxford

Intuitive Documentary: The Years with my Camera at the Front
Mostafa Dalayi, Iranian documentary filmmaker

Narration of Triumph: War and Martyrdom in the Eyes of Morteza Avini
Pedram Khosronejad, Research Fellow in the Middle East Centre of St. Antony's College (University of Oxford)

Unexplored Iranian Documentary Films on War
Robert Safarian, Iranian film critic and lecturer at Soureh University in Tehran

The Forgotten War
Nader Talebzadeh, Iranian documentary filmmaker

This symposium programme includes screenings of Fourth Day's Attack (1988) at 1pm and Bridge of Freedom (1980-1984) at 4.30pm, both documentaries being part of Morteza Avini's documentary series Narration of Triumph.

All films (except Opening Gala and Conference): GBP 8.50 full price / GBP 7 online / GBP 6 concs
Opening Gala: GBP 11 full price / GBP 9.50 Barbican members and concs
Conference: GBP 20 full price / GBP 16 members / GBP 14 concs
Special offer: Book three films from this season for just GBP 15 (except Opening Gala and Conference)

Visit www.barbican.org.uk/film or call the box office on +44 845 1207531