Munich celebrating Iranian cinema

The German city of Munich has been celebrating Iranian cinema with different programs.

Currently running at the Carl Amery Hall in Munich’s cultural center of Gasteig, the programs include screening of feature films and documentaries, as well as holding discussions on Iranian art and literature.

‘Breath’ by Narges Abyar, ‘Pig’ by Mani Haqiqi, and ‘Soheila, No. 17’ by Mahmoud Ghaffari are among the feature films on the German screen.

‘Breath’ shows how hopes and dreams of many Iranian children shattered by the flames of the war that Iraq lit in 1980.

The story of the film begins in the late 1970s in a suburb of Karaj, where Bahar, Nader, Kamal and Maryam live with numerous colorful dreams of their childhood along with their father and granny. The mother of the household, however, has died a few years ago.

The father, who suffers from asthma, works for a shoemaking company. In her dreams, Bahar, who narrates the story of the film, wishes to treat him when she becomes a doctor.

Iranian actors and actresses Gelare Abbasi, Mehran Ahmadi, Jamshid Hashempour, and Shabnam Moqaddami star in ‘Breath’.

‘Pig’ depicts the story of Hassan, a filmmaker who has not been able to make any films lately, but his admired starlet can’t wait any longer and wants to leave and work with another director.

His wife no longer loves him. His daughter has grown up and feels independent. His old mother is suffering from Alzheimer. A distressingly gorgeous woman tracks him everywhere he goes and wants him to give her a role in his films.

Yet worse, an assassin is killing directors of Iranian cinema in the city, but he has paid no attention to Hassan. Now he is hopeless; isn’t he the most important filmmaker of the city? Why then doesn’t the assassin care about him?

The state of affairs becomes more painful when Hassan is accused as the prime suspect for the assassinate cases on the social networks. Now he is forced to make up an intelligent plan to restore his destroyed repute.

Hassan Majouni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Ali Mosaffa and Mina Jafarzadeh are among the flick stars.

‘Soheila, No. 17’ is about a 40-year-old single woman who needs to get married as soon as possible due to some genetic disorder that would complicate her pregnancy.

Zahra Davoudnejad, Babak Hamidian, and Mehrdad Seddiqian are among the cast.

According to the event's website, the film program is complemented by a photo exhibition of old Iranian cinemas, a literary reading by a renowned author, as well as further talks on film history and the contemporary art scene.

MG/MG