Canadian Premiere
A teen girl and her two friends and are off for an afternoon in the largest park in Teheran to photograph a rare total solar eclipse. This is a slice-of-life teen adventure where something as dark as the eclipse is revealed. The film shows us that, perhaps not surprisingly, rebellious teen behaviours and attitudes in Iran and the West share striking similarities, and that some of their actions would be considered morally questionable in both societies. The film is beautifully shot and directed with simplicity and precision, complemented by superb acting. The eclipse becomes a metaphor for something that should have stayed hidden, and that unsettled feeling of something being fundamentally changed forever.
Community Partner
Khorshid Cheraghipour, Paniz Esmaili, Anita Bagheri, Payman Naimi, Faraz Modiri
France/Iran
2021
In Farsi with English subtitles
Featured in:
International Shorts: Morality Plays
Morals are being challenged on many fronts. The protagonists in this program of short films are all faced with difficult moral choices and they don’t always make the right decisions.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
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Samia
Despite growing up in Mogadishu, Somalia, during the civil war, Samia Yusuf Omar persists in her dream of becoming an Olympic athlete and competes in Beijing, 2008 -- with London, 2012 next on her agenda. Based on a true story.
Little Big Man
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Sudan, Remember Us
A portrait of young artists and activists, Meddeb's doc charts events in Khartoum between 2019 -- in the immediate wake of the revolution that deposed dictator Omar al-Bashir -- and the mood four years later, when the country has been torn apart by civil war.
Credits
Executive Producer
Raha Amirfazli, Aria Ghavamian, Mani Nilchiani
Producer
Hassan Nadjarian Dariani, Alireza Ghasemi, Adrien Barouillet
Screenwriter
Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli
Cinematography
Soheil Goharipour
Editor
Pooyan Sholevar
Production Design
Faraz Modiri
Director
Raha Amirfazli
Raha Amirfazli is an Iranian filmmaker who graduated from the Art University of Tehran in Film Directing. She has made several short films that have earned her national and international screenings, including Nausea (2017). In addition to serving as a referee in the Danish journal Short Film Studies, she is also the editor-in-chief of the 24 Frames website. Amirfazli is currently pursuing an MFA in Film Production at New York University.
Alireza Ghasemi
Alireza Ghasemi is an Iranian filmmaker. He received his Master’s degree in Film Directing from the Art University of Tehran. His short Lunch Time (2017) earned him a Palme d’Or nomination in Cannes’ short film category. He is now the international manager of the Iranian Short Film Association. He participated in Cannes’ residency program with his first feature-length film script, The Ceremony.