Skip to main content
Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others film image; man stretches a long object towards a woman

Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others

Man, Maryam, Bacheha va 26 Nafare Digar

Vanguard

This event has passed

North American Premiere

When a woman decides to rent her home for a film shoot, she’s not prepared for the overwhelming sense of intrusion she will experience by having the film crew in her space. But reality and fiction blur as the production ramps up and she finds herself immersed in the work and on-set camaraderie.

In his feature debut, Iranian director Farshad Hashemi weaves a narratively dense and emotionally textured film tapestry, crafting a quietly affecting drama that lands as a poetic meditation on loneliness and the power of storytelling. The filmmaker nimbly switches between storytelling conventions to interrogate the notion of art imitating life and vice versa. As he himself moves seamlessly in front of and behind the camera (he plays the production manager), he conveys a deep appreciation for the chaotic nature of the creative process, proving that magic is often found in moments of frustration and uncertainty.

 

Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award, Göteborg 2024

 

Presented by

Media Partner

     

Director
Cast

Mahboube Gholami, Farshad Hashemi, Ebrahim Azizi, Zahra Aghapour, Navid Aghaei, Arash Deghan Shad

Credits
Country of Origin

Iran/Germany

Year

2024

Language

In Farsi with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
101 min
Award Winners Cinemas of Asia Drama
Istade Art Group, PakFilm

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Sina Askari

Producer

Farzad Pak, Farshad Hashemi

Screenwriter

Farshad Hashemi

Cinematography

Davood Malek Hosseini

Editor

Mahdi Iravani

Production Design

Siamak Karinejad

Original Music

Peyman Yazdanian

Farshad Hashemi headshot; Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others director

Farshad Hashemi

Farshad Hashemi is an Iranian writer, director, and actor. His feature directorial debut, Me, Maryam, the Children, and 26 Others premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and was selected for the Göteborg Film Festival where it won the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Prosecution

Dir. Faraz Shariat
113 min

When a young German prosecutor of Korean origin is attacked, she suspects a racist conspiracy and pursues the truth in defiance of her superiors. Prosecution is a film for our moment: a thriller that confronts the far-right head-on.

International Village 8
Rebecca Horn – the Secret Life of Things
Rebecca Horn film image; woman in a empty room holding out her arms with makeshift scissorhands

Rebecca Horn – the Secret Life of Things

Dir. Claudia Müller
90 min

Rebecca Horn's extraordinary biography is interwoven with her surreal oeuvre. An essential document of one of the 20th century's most influential artists, Rebecca Horn – The Secret Life of Things celebrates the unsung legacy of a pioneering visionary.

Image: © Rebecca Horn

International Village 10
What Remains
What Remains film image; woman looking out at the water

What Remains

Dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu
126 min

Stuck in a big city in a mind-numbing domestic routine, a young poetess finds herself at crossroads when her role as a mother and wife starts to overshadow her identity as an artist.

International Village 9
School for Defectors
School for Defectors film image; person standing by a desk speaking

School for Defectors

Dir. Jeremy Workman
92 min

School for Defectors is an intimate and quietly uplifting documentary that follows a group of 20 teenagers, children of North Korean defectors, as they adjust to life and education at Jangdaehyun School in Busan, South Korea.

Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only

Fruit Gathering

Dir. Aung Phyoe
97 min

Achingly sensual and graced with fine performances, Fruit Gathering depicts embattled desire in a conservative society. Two working-class women fall into a romantic relationship in contemporary Myanmar — but is their love real, or borne of desperation?

International Village 10
Short Forum 7: War at Home
Rotation film image; upside down image of woman sitting in a field

Short Forum 7: War at Home

107 min

Truly, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

International Village 8