North American Premiere
Ilya is a normal, healthy four-and-a-half year-old boy. He goes to daycare and enjoys playing. He comes from a stable background with loving parents. But for reasons known only to himself, he has stopped talking. Contrary to what you might expect, Dornaz Hajiha’s superbly acted film zeroes in on the boy’s mom and dad, Haleh and Amir (Sepidar Tari and Shahdiyar Shakiba). In the first scene, a pyschologist probes their relationship and recommends that they reverse roles, that is, Amir should take over responsibility for getting Ilya dressed, feeding him, and the thousand other little things that his wife routinely does for their son. He grudgingly agrees. But it’s Haleh who really struggles with the new arrangement. She feels helpless and redundant. And Ilya still isn’t talking.
In her spare, empathetic first feature film, Hajiha establishes such authenticity, it’s almost as if we are watching an observational documentary. As the distressed parents consult one specialist after another, all to no avail, their own mental health suffers and the marriage cracks apart, leading to a devastating climax.
A transfixing and brooding, unafraid film where there are no winners. But there are truths to be had.”—Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
Q&A Oct 2 & Oct 4
Media Partner
Sepidar Tari, Shahdiyar Shakiba, Ali Ahmadi
Iran
2022
In Farsi with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Miles Davis 100! Vince Mai Plays Miles Davis
Vancouver trumpet legend Vince Mai Vince Mai will be performing music from some of Miles Davis's most memorable 1950s albums, including Kind of Blue, Walkin', Relaxin' and more. After his live set, enjoy Stanley Nelson's definitive documentary.
Bushido
An impeccable samurai (and "Go" expert), Kakunoshin is framed for a crime and forced into exile. Years later he stumbles across the true reason for his fall from grace, and sets about exacting his revenge...
Fiume o Morte!
The Croatian city of Rijeka rediscovers its own past in this delightfully unconventional hybrid documentary about Italian poet and proto-fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio, who seized the city known in Italian as Fiume in 1919.
Silent Friend
In this entrancing reverie from On Body and Soul director Ildikó Enyedi, we are invited to contemplate several human specimens from the vantage point of a mighty Ginkgo biloba tree on the grounds of a German university.
The Other Side of Hope
Khaled, a Syrian (Sherwan Haji), washes up on Finland's glum shores and becomes an unlikely friend to a middle-aged Finnish shirt salesman (Sakari Kuosmanen) in the midst of remaking his life. Compassionate and wryly funny by turns.
Credits
Producer
Ehsan Rasoulof
Screenwriter
Dornaz Hajiha
Cinematography
Alireza Barazande
Editor
Ashkan Mehri
Director
Dornaz Hajiha
Dornaz Hajiha received her Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Alzahra University, Tehran, and graduated with an MA in Film Production from the London Film School in 2015. She has written and directed several short films and documentaries, including Marlon (2017) and Marziyeh (2017). Like a Fish on the Moon is her debut feature. Hajiha is currently developing her second feature, Diaphanous.