Kanoon-e Khavaran Presents
With Collaboration of Basir Nasibi, the Founder of Cinema-ye Azaad and the Iranian Resistance Cinema in Exile
Basir Nasibi’s Abridged Resume
In 1968 Basir Nasibi collaborated with other Iranian Film Makers and Intellectuals to found Cinema-ye Azad-e Iran (The Iranian Free Cinema). This organization ultimately became a cultural movement in its own right and by the time that it dissolved in 1979 (with the arrival of the Islamic regime in Iran) Cinema-ye Azad had organized film making workshops in 20 towns and cities and had 300 active members. The organization had also produced 1000 amateur 8 mm films, had organized a Cine Club with over 1000 members, and had held film festivals in Tehran that were warmly received by over 3000 viewers.
From 1969 to 1979 Basir Nasibi again collaborated to organize 4 international and 10 national film festivals in Iran. During the same period, he drafted and proposed the constitution for an International Federation of Amateur Film Makers, was a member of its founding committee, and subsequently its first Chairperson.
.In 1980 Basir Nasibi left Iran. He resided first in Italy and then in Saarbrücken, Germany. In 1983, in collaboration with Maryam Ja’fari and Jamshid Keykavoosi he organized an international festival of amateur 8 mm films in Saarburcken. The works of film makers from 16 European countries were screened in this festival.
In 1990 Basir Nasibi re-established Cinema-ye Azad, adapting it to the new conditions of work in exile.
Between 1993-94, he produced among other things the two films, Cloud Over My House and The Ship Along The Rhine Bank. He also published the book, Ten Years of The Iranian Free Cinema.
In 1996 Basir Nasibi was on the panel of judges at the 22nd International Festival of Amateur Films in Brussels, and was awarded the Certificate of Appreciation for his efforts to promote the language of cinema by Marion Muller, Deputy Mayor of Brussels.
During 1992-2003 Basir Nasibi managed in addition to his social, cultural, and political activities, to publish two books in Germany: With Mr. Fellini’s Permission and The Road To Cannes Passes Through Ghandhar.
The First Iranian Festival of resistance film by Iranian Film Makers in Exile is a one day festival that focuses on the Socio-Economic and Political situation in Iran. The shocking images in these films convey the suffering of a people who systematically and routinely have their human rights violated by a brutal Islamic Regime.
Since the Current Political climate in Iran makes it impossible for these film makers to make and to screen these films in their homeland, this festival provide them with an opportunity to share their ideas and their art with the world.
Included in this festival are the following films and film makers.
The Tree that remembers Directed by: Masoud Raouf
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An Eye for an Eye Directed by: : Mansour Ghadarkhah
The film' ... an Eye for En Eye...' is a bout a family of refugees, who have found shelter in a home in a German City, after years of dictatorship, torture and rape in their own Country.
Hadi, Mona, their two daughters and Mona's father are trying to interrogate into daily German life. whoever sinister relocations of a terrible past, home sickness and the Longing for friends and relations give the family no peace of mind. A frightening incident with skinheads unstableness the entire home for refugees.
One day Hadi has a fatal meeting. He believes that he has seen Nury, the man who had tortured himself and his family in prisone.
Hadi breaks down and the all his good intentions, to start again, to create a relatively normal and quiet life for himself and his family are ruined. The victim becomes the perpetrator .... the perpetrator the victim ....
Again and again we hear stereo typed reports about attacks on people, who, in their distress seek refuges in Germany and then still have to fear for their lives. The decision to leave ones home, familiar surrounding, family, relatives and friends is not made likely.
This film shows in a gripping fashion, the tragedy of one of those families, who can lead a peaceful existence in Germany nor at home.
... An eye for an eye ... promotes understanding for people who, in fear for their lives, ask for help.
Director: Mansour Ghadarkhah
In 1981, with the start of the war between Iran and Iraq, many people were forced to leave their homes and flee to Tehran and other major Iranian cities and they found refuge in the vacant residences of those who had fled their country after the revolution. These refugees were fortunate to find shelter before these properties were confiscated by the government.
This film shows the lifestlye of the people who survived this war and the life they must lead under the Mullahs theocracy.
This film was shot in northwest Tehran.
Director : Moslem Mansouri
Lila Ghobady
Producer of Epitaph & Utopia
Epitaph Directed by: Moslem Mansouri
In Iran today, prostitution comes in different forms and has acquired broad dimensions. Many married women, widows, young and underage girls, and even female university students have to sell their bodies to make a living.
Networks related to the religious administration governing Iran are involved in the buying and selling of girls. Sex trade is appealing to them and they make big profits from it.
Meanwhile, the religious government in Iran is stoning women to death for sex out-of-marriage, has imposed compulsory veiling or ‘Hejab’, and does not allow women the right to choose their own mode of dress.
This film is a snapshot showing a small part of the conditions endured by prostitutes in Iran in their own words.
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A Few Simple Shots Directed & Produced by: Joseph Akrami
A FEW SIMPLE SHOTS: Crimes against humanity committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran explores the subject of human rights abuse in Iran since 1979. Possibly the first film on this subject to be made in Canada by a Canadian/Iranian film maker, A Few Simple Shots unveils the shocking ways that countless Iranians have had their personal rights and freedoms violated by the current political regime. Using a rapid sequence of interview shots, the film reveals Iran from the perspective of such organizations as Amnesty International and The United Nations and through the voices of many eminent Canadian and Iranian academics, writers political activists, feminists and artists who are living outside of Iran.