Eleven directors from 11 countries each contribute an 11-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what’s happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they’ve spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son’s death. The tones vary, as do the locales. Most stories are about others coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.
Tag: IRAN
Iran Is My Land is about a young Iranian writer, Sohrab, who has written a hefty tome about classic poetry. To get the necessary licence to publish, he has to visit the Ministry for Islamic Art and Education in Teheran. Halfway there his car breaks down in the desert. Overcome by hunger, thirst and fatigue, all kinds of poets from former times appear to him. Each of them has different advice about how Sohrab should continue on his way.
Ya Zamene Ahu is a quiet documentary about the visitors of the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite Imam, in the city of Mashhad in the North East of Iran. Nicknamed the “Guardian of Deer,” it is said that Imam Reza once protected a deer chased by a hunter.
Darvish Khan, a deaf-mute shepherd living in the desert, has a mystical vision in a dream in which he encounters a saint. When he awakens, he finds himself clutching a large stone. Grateful for the vision, he aims to pay homage and begins to construct an unusual monument in its honor. After his wife tells a neighbor that it is miraculous place, news of his ‘garden of stones’ spreads and people from neighboring villages come to see it. The result wreaks havoc upon Darvish Khan’s life.
After their Tehran home is destroyed in an air raid during the Gulf War, Farhad Sadri and his family set out for the safety of northern Iran. As they travel, the family faces a series of unsettling and transformative encounters that expose the emotional scars left by conflict. Blending quiet realism with psychological tension, the film traces their attempt to rebuild a sense of normalcy amid uncertainty.
Amir, desperate to earn enough money to marry his fiancée Maryam, becomes involved in the illegal operations of a gang run by a man named Afshar. Complications arise when Afshar’s wife develops feelings for Amir—feelings he does not return. But when Afshar finds the two of them alone one day, suspicion and danger begin to close in.
Four year old Jairan is ignored at home, and is itching for something to do. She convinces her neighbour, an old lady who is partially blind, that the two of them should travel across one of the world’s busiest cities, Tehran, to buy rice. What could possibly go wrong? A gentle take on Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Talebi’s disarming film starts as an odd-couple adventure, then opens out into something profound and unforgettable.