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Festival Poster
4th Edition
The 4th Persian Film Festival opened with the highly anticipated Australian premiere of Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s award-winning feature The President. The festival hosted eight national and international guests, including Alireza Amini and Bita Beigi from Iran, Saeed Sourati and Nora Niasari from Australia, and Alexandria Bombach from the USA. The festival guests engaged audiences in Q&A sessions after their screenings.
Poster of the 4th Persian Film Festival
Designed by Amin Palangi
Festival Guests
Rakhshan Banietemad
Born in 1954, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad is a graduate of filmmaking from Tehran’s Faculty of Dramatic Arts. She joined Iranian TV 1974 and started her career as a script-girl and assistant director. She directed a number of best documentaries in Iranian TV in early years after the Revolution like The Culture of Consumption (1979), Centralization (1982),… Her three first feature films, Off the Limits (1987), Canary Yellows (1988) and Foreign Currency (1989) were all comedies dealing with social issues, however, her fourth film, Nargess (1991) brought her an international recognition as well as numerous international awards. Her next feature films, The Blue-Veiled (1994), The May Lady (1997), Under Skin of the City (2000), Gilaneh (2005) and Mainline (2006) established her as the most important Iranian woman filmmaker in history of Iranian cinema as well as one of the most prestigious Iranian film directors at international scene. She continued making documentaries between her feature filmmaking career which put her as a very committed filmmakers toward Iranian society. She’s already made 10 feature films, contributed with making a an episode in 3 anthology films, and directed more than 12 documentaries too. She’s now working on her latest feature film, The Tales which will come out in 2013.
Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi, one of the most important independent filmmakers in Iran, identified with the Iranian New Wave film movement. His first full length feature film, The White Balloon (1995), written by the renowned Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, had its first round of critical acclaim when it earned the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Panahi was born in Mianeh, Iran, an Azerbaijani area outside of Tehran. His last three films, The Circle (2000), Crimson Gold (2003) and Offside (2006) were banned by the Islamic government of Iran. Although his films were often banned in his own country, he continued to receive international acclaim from film theorists and critics and has won numerous awards, including the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival for The Mirror (1997), the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for The Circle (2000), and the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival for Offside (2006). In July 2009 was Panahi arrested during the unrest after Iran’s election in 2009. He he was later released, but his passport was confiscated and he was banned from leaving the country. In February 2010 he was denied permission to leave Iran to participate in the panel discussion on ‘Iranian Cinema: Present and Future. Expectations inside and outside of Iran’ during the World Cinema Fund Day at the 60th Berlinale.
Mohammad Rasoulof
Born in Shiraz in 1972, he started his artistic activity at age nine by acting in the theatre in Shiraz. He then pursued writing and directing for the theatre. He has studied social sciences. Focusing on social issues and the mutual impact on the individual and society, by living under a dictatorial and impervious government, has been the subject of most of his films. The documentary The Twilght (Gagooman, 2002) was his first feature length film and won the Crystal Simorgh (phoenix) at the 21st Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran, as well as Best Documentary award at the 6th Iran Cinema House ceremony. Following the events a er the 2009 Presidential election in Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi were arrested while on location making a film. At the ensuing trial Rasoulof was sentenced to six years imprisonment (5 years on charges of gathering and collusion against national security and 1 year on charges of involvement in propaganda against the regime). In the appeals court, he was acquitted of the first charge and his sentence was reduced to one year. In 2011, due to selection of his film Goodbye (Be Omid e Didar, 2011) at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, his exit ban from Iran was lifted. In 2013, after making the film Manuscripts Don't Burn (Dast-Neveshteha Nemisoozand, 2013)and its screening at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, his passport and personal belongings were confiscated at Tehran Airport. Currently he is out on bail. In 2013, at the 40th Telluride Film Festival, the Silver Medal of the festival was awarded to Mohammad Rasoulof, Coen Brothers and Robert Redford.
Asghar Farhadi
Asghar Farhadi was born in Iran. He made his directorial debut with Dance in the Dust (2003) and Beautiful City (2004). About Elly (2009) won the Silver Bear for Best Director in Berlin. His film A Separation (2011) became a sensation. It got critical acclaim inside and outside of Iran; it was awarded many prizes, among them the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, making him the first Iranian filmmaker ever to win an Oscar. Farhadi’s sixth movie, The Past, selected in competition at the Festival de Cannes, brought the Best Actress Prize for Bérénice Bejo (2013). Back in Iran, Farhadi made The Salesman, awarded Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Shahab Hosseini in Cannes (2016). The film also brought the second Oscar for Iran in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Farhadi’s last film, A Hero, in Competition at the Festival de Cannes last year, was awarded Grand Prix.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Born in Iran in 1957. Mohsen Makhmalbaf is a filmmaker, novelist, screenwriter, editor, producer and human rights activist. Since his debut as a filmmaker in 1983 he has directed more than 20 feature films in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, Turkey and several other countries. Winning over 50 awards at festivals world wide his films include "Gabbeh" (1996, Cannes Film Festival), "Kandahar" (2001) which was selected as one of the top 100 films of all time by TIME Magazine, and the acclaimed 2012 documentary "The Gardener". In addition to filmmaking Makhmalbaf lived in Afghanistan for a period of two years, carrying out numerous human rights projects including building schools and working towards a renewal of the Afghan cinema, which had been totally destroyed during the Taliban regime. The Iranian government has levied a ban on Makhmalbaf's works and has threatened his safety over the years. Since leaving Iran in 2005 in protest against the pressure of censorship, Makhmalbaf is based in London and Paris.
Bahram Beyzaie
Bahram Beyzaie was born in Tehran, Iran on 26 December 1938. He was introduced to the world of art when he was still very young. In high school he wrote two historical plays which eventually became his preferred method of writing. He then entered University of Tehran, but did not finish his studies due to lack of interest in the subject he was studying. It was then that he started researching Iranian theatre and epic literature. At the age of 21 he did an extensive research on the "Book of Kings" (Shahname) and Ta'azie which is Iranian traditional plays. He also studied the pre-Islamic history and familiarized himself with Persian painting. The next ten years of his life were dedicated to writing in various publications about Eastern Art and Iranian theatre. He also wrote a good number of articles about cinema which later became the subject of one of his books. It is during this time that Bayzaie wrote some of his masterpieces: "The Eight Voyage of Sinbad", "Banquet", "Serpant King", "Dolls", "Story of the Hidden Moon" and many more... In 1968 he was one of the first ones to join the controversial Iranian Writer's Guild ( Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran ). He started his film career with a successful short named "Uncle Mustache" (Amoo Sibiloo) in 1970. Immidetly after that he directed and produced his masterpiece "Downpour" (Ragbaar) with the late Parviz Fannizadeh as its main character. Since then he has produced and directed 8 other movies and has made significant contribution to the development of cinema and theatre in Iran. Despite his popularity and knowledge, Bayzai has never been successful in gaining the support of the government, neither before nor after the revolution. After close to 20 years, two of his films "Death of Yazdgerd" and "Ballad of Tara" have still not been able to receive a screening permit. Both movies have been shelved due to the fact that they are not in accordance with the Islamic code currently in use in Iranian motion picture industry. "Bashu, the Little Stranger" was going to be his third film to be shelved. But it finally got a screening permit after the end of Iran-Iraq war. The movie is about a little boy who has lost his home and family to the war.
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career as a filmmaker at the age of 30. Since then he has made many movies and has become one of the most important figures in contemporary Iranian film. He is also a major figure in the arts world, and has had numerous gallery exhibitions of his photography, short films and poetry. Though Kiarostami emerged in the West as a major filmmaker in the early ‘90s—with films like CLOSE-UP and THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES—he had already been making films in Iran for two decades. Born on June 22nd 1940 in Tehran, Kiarostami was interested in the arts from an early age. He won a painting competition at the age of eighteen, and left home to study at Tehran University’s Faculty of Fine Arts. As a designer and illustrator, Kiarostami worked throughout the ‘60s in advertising, making commercials, designing posters, creating credit titles for films (including Gheyshar by M. Kimiai), and illustrating children’s books.
Michelle Langford
Dr Michelle Langford is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her research spans the cinemas of Iran and Germany. Her research on Iranian cinema has focussed on gender, allegory and aesthetics and had appeared in leading film studies journals including Camera Obscura, Screenand Screening the Past. Her forthcoming book is entitled Allegory in Iranian Cinema: The Aesthetics of Poetry and Resistance(Bloomsbury). Her current research project looks at the German films of Iranian filmmaker Sohrab Shahid Saless.
Yalda Hakim
Yalda Hakim is a well-known presenter of the BBC World News’ flagship program Impact. She joined BBC World News in 2012 as a presenter and correspondent delivering hard-hitting journalism on many global issues. Yalda has reported extensively on the rise and fall of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq. Most recently she travelled to the world’s youngest nation South Sudan which is embroiled in brutal civil war. She reported that more than 4 million people are now on the brink of famine in the devastated country. In 2013 Yalda and her team won a UN Association of Australia Media Award in the category of Best Television Documentary for her two investigations in Yemen. Before joining BBC World News, Yalda was the presenter of SBS Dateline in Australia. From a headline-making investigation in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province to her reporting from Libya during the Arab Spring, Yalda has built up a wealth of journalistic experience around the world.
Maani Petgar
Born in Tehran, Iran, November, 1959. After running a Photography Studio, (1980-82), he started working in the film industry with Amir NADERI, in The Runner (1982-83) and Water, Wind, Dust (1985) as stills photographer, assistant director and assistant editor. After working in The Key (Dir. Ebrahim Forouzesh), he migrated to Australia and between 1988 to 1990 worked in the Australian Film Industry in various positions, until he made his first experimental short, Reverse Angle in 1991. In 1994, he returned to Iran to make a documentary on Iranian cinema for SBS TV in Australia and Farabi Cinema Foundation in Iran, but for some reasons, that project was never executed, and instead Cinema Cin- ema was made and Film Lovers, were initiated. He has returned to live and work in Iran since 1997 and planned two feature films in Iran. The first project: Looking Through, is recently completed. He has established his own production houses; Reverse Angle Productions, between 1996-2002 in Australia and Unexposed Films in Iran- since 2004. He is also a part time film critic and collaborator on Film Monthly magazine (in Farsi), and Film International (Quarterly in English, published in Iran), since 1986.
Nasser Palangi
Born in Hamadan, Iran, 1957. Graduated in Visual Arts from the Tehran University in 1984; pursued painting and art education in Tehran until 1989, while lecturing at different universities until 1998. Spent three years working as a war artist creating drawings, paintings and photographs at the beginning of the first Iran-Iraq war (1980- 1988). He also created a series of mural paintings entitled "My Memory of the War" for the congregational mosque of Khorramshahr in Iran in 1981. He received many commissions throughout his career, including installations and two mural reliefs for the War Memorial Museum in Khorramshahr, 1997/98; a mural painting for the Treasure Gallery, Seattle, USA, 2000; a painting for the 'Medicines without Border Project', Dubai, and ten sculptures, 'Migrants in Australia', for the National Multicultural Festival, Canberra, Australia in 2004. Exhibited widely including at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (2000) and the Seyhoun Gallery, Tehran (2001). A selection of his works dating from 1999 to 2005 are at the East & West gallery, Victoria, Australia. Based in Australia.
Special Event
Love Marriage in Kabul: Fundraiser
The festival hosted a special fundraiser screening of Amin Palangi’s award winning Love Marriage in Kabul and donated the proceeding to Mahboba’s Promise Charity.