
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
Mahboube Gholami, Farshad Hashemi, Ebrahim Azizi, Zahra Aghapour, Navid Aghaei, Arash Deghan Shad
Iran/Germany
2024
In Farsi with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
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
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
School of Rock
With not one, but two new Richard Linklater movies at VIFF this year (Nouvelle Vague and Blue Moon), we thought it would be fun to revisit a choice cut from his rich back catalogue: the best Black and White movie ever made, School of Rock.
Boyhood
A dozen years in the making, Richard Linklater's masterpiece chronicles the evolution of a boy into a young man, from six to 18. It is the ultimate coming-of-age movie, and one of the most audacious cinematic feats of the decade.
There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson's lacerating epic about the birth of the oil age: Daniel Day-Lewis is extraordinary as the prospector entirely consumed with his own enterprise, a Trumpian figure of naked self-assertion; Paul Dano the evangelist who may be his nemesis.
Godland
In the late 19th century, a Danish Lutheran priest is dispatched to a far corner of Iceland where a devout farmer has seen fit to build a church. The physical journey is arduous. His spiritual journey, more taxing still.
The Balconettes
In this flamboyant black comedy set in Marseille during a heatwave, writer-director-star Noémie Merlant and her two besties have to cover up the unpleasant evidence of a disastrous night partying with the hunk across the way.