The Iranian Film Festival is opening at Mercury Cinema on Friday October 25, celebrating the beauty and challenges facing the cinematic industry in Iran.
The Iranian Film Festival is opening at Mercury Cinema on Friday October 25, celebrating the beauty and challenges facing the cinematic industry in Iran. Inviting Australian audiences into the culture and conflicts of Iran, the festival hopes to promote tolerance and understanding. The festival will take place over the weekend, showcasing seven films from both new and established directors in the region. Opening the weekend is Snow On Pines. From first-time director Peyman Moadi comes the story of a piano teacher Roya (Mahnaz Afshar) who discovers unsettling secrets about her husband. Aside from Afshar’s selection as Best Actress, the film also took home the Best Film and Best Script prizes at the Iranian Film Critics Guild Awards. The film will be accompanied by live music, Iranian food and drinks to start the festival in style. Mercury Cinema Exhibition Manager Mat Kesting lists with pride the high-calibre films that will be screened over the weekend: “Jafar Panahi’s Berlinale Silver Bear winner, Closed Curtain; Bahman Ghobadi’s Rhino Season, a tragic romance based on a true story, following Sahel, a Kurdish-Iranian poet who was unjustly incarcerated during the Islamic Revolution [and] starring Monica Bellucci; and the Australian premiere of Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s controversial The Gardener.” All the films to be shown between Friday October 25 and Sunday October 27 are South Australian premieres; the full program and ticket details can be seen at www.mercurycinema.org.au
