2009 Program - Noor Iranian Film Festival

NFF Staff…
Festival Director:
Siamak Ghahremani
“
Out of 172 submissions,
we selected 18 films from
countries such as Australia,
Iran, Holland, Canada and
the United States.
”
Media Relations Director
Sunny Helali
in bringing together our third annual festival. Thank you also to our
judges for taking time from their busy schedule to be part of 2009 NFF.
Coordinators
Parisa Shabanzadeh
Naysan Mahmoudi
Bita Milanian
Sharareh Derakhshandeh
Out of 172 submissions, we selected 18 films from countries such as
Australia, Iran, Holland, Canada and the United States. We are proud
that many of the films showcased are LA, US and World Premieres!
Staff
Soutodeh Ahmadieh
Hamideh Ahmadieh
Nilee Sepahpur
THANK YOU to the community, friends and family for their support
This year we have adopted a traditional film festival format with 3 days
of screenings followed by a red carpet awards/closing ceremony hosted
by one of our judges, Ms. Rudi Bakhtiar. The theme for the 2009
festival is "Generations," and we are honoring the accomplishments of
one of the most respected Iranian-Americans in the entertainment
industry, Mr. Reza Badiyi, with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2008, NFF was showcased in San Francisco and Daytona Beach. This
year we plan to reach out to more communities. Also, we have already
begun preparations for the 2010 festival. Next year, we will present
Iranian legend Mr. Behrouz Vossoughi with the Noor Film Festival
Lifetime Achievement Award.
We encourage you to attend the screenings this year and support the
hardworking new generation of Iranian filmmakers.
Respectfully,
Siamak Ghahremani
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Co-Founders:
Siamak Ghahremani
Anthony Azizi
Cymbeline Smith
Krista Behi
Photography
Babak Emanuel
Ben Bernous
Rooz Photography
Sara Rahbar
Art Director
Behzad Tabatabai
Poster and Cover Art
Sculpture - Farzad Kohan
Poster Design - Faye Vahdani
Webmaster
BCF Consulting
www.bcf-consulting.com
Produced By
Siamak Ghahremani
www.SiamakG.com
Printing By
Golden Color Productions
www.goldencolor.com
Festival Schedule
Fri, May 1, 2009
6:30 pm
Tehran: Another Side
Contents…
Young Republic (LA Premiere!)
8:30 pm
Hayedeh: Legendary Persian Diva (US Premiere!)
Director’s Letter ........................................2
Festival Overview ...................................3
Sat, May 2, 2009
2:30 pm
Warring Factions (LA Premiere!)
The Florist
4:30 pm
The Generation of Nowhereland (World Premiere!)
Another Salute (World Premiere!)
6:30 pm
Donkey in Lahore (LA Premiere!)
8:45 pm
Niloofar
Hoviyate Man
Judges .....................................................................4
Award Ceremony......................................5
Sponsors & Friends.............................6
Film Screenings...............................8-11
Featured Artist ...............................12-13
NFF Public Service..............................17
2010 Preview .............................................20
Sun, May 3, 2009
12:30 pm
Something Virtual (US Premiere!)
2:30 pm
Flags of Kaveh's Castle
Slowliness
4:30 pm
Help
In the Dark (LA Premiere!)
Stony Karvansara
New Horizon (Special Screening - Not in Competition)
6:30 pm
Red Carpet Celebrity Arrivals
All Screenings at:
7:30 pm
Otis E. (LA Premiere!)
Fine Arts Theatre
A Letter Home
9:15 pm
Award Ceremony
Hosted by Rudi Bakhtiar
8556 Wilshire Blvd.,
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Located between S. Le Doux Rd. and S. Stanley Dr.
One block West of LaCienega Blvd.
2009 Judges
Rudi Bakhtiar
Anchor, CNN and Fox News
Ali Pourtash
Actor - The Stoning of Soraya M.
Habib Zargarpour
Visual effects supervisor and two-time Oscar nominee
Brooke Adams
Actress - Monk, Invasion
of the Body Snatchers
Esi Morales
Actor - NYPD Blue, Jericho
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Red Carpet Award Ceremony
Sun, May 3, 2009
hosted by
RUDI BAKHTIAR
Lifetime Achievement Award
presented to
REZA BADIYI
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Sponsors & Friends…
KIRN670AMRADIOIRAN
GOLDEN COLOR
PRINTERS
Radio Sedaye Iran
Studio91
Special thanks to Tehran Magazine, Rah-e-Zendegi Magazine, Omid e Iran, Jam e Jam and VOA.
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KIRN670AMRADIOIRAN
670AMKIRN.COM
Film Screenings…
Tehran: Another Side
Every Story Has Two Sides: This story is a film of an Iranian-American who returned to his family’s
homeland, and discovered another side of the city erased from the narratives of mainstream media.
This is his Tehran, but also a Tehran he aspires to offer into the popular American imagination.
Director: Sam Ali Kashani
LA PREMIERE!!!
Duration: 63 min
Fri, May 1, 2009 - 6:30pm
Young Republic
Seventy percent of Iran is under 30 years old. Reflective and lyrical, Young Republic engages in dialogues
with students and young people. Playful conversations turn into heated debates, and humorous stories
lend insight into how the ‘young republic’ hopes to shape the future of Iran.
Director: Nooshin Navidi
US PREMIERE!!!
Duration: 47 min
Fri, May 1, 2009 - 6:30pm
Hayedeh: Legendary Persian Diva
Sponsored by: 670 AM - KIRN
Extensive review of Hayedeh’s artistic activities and her rare videos, audio clips, photos and interviews
with the main figures of her career.
Director: Pejman Akbarzadeh
Duration: 100 min
Fri, May 1, 2009 - 8:30pm
LA PREMIERE!!!
Warring Factions
Sponsored by: IranianHotline.com
An American born Iranian break-dancer finds cultural awakening by exploring his multi-ethnic roots.
Faced with duel nationality in two conflicting countries, he travels to Iran to both explore the political
issues first hand and discover his cultural identity with a group of Iranian b-boys. By combining
documentary and studio reenactments, Warring Factions looks at the blurring of world borders and the
looming threat of another war in the Middle East.
Director: Justin Mashouf
The Florist
Duration: 78 min
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 2:30pm
Sponsored by: IranianHotline.com
Neda, an American woman born in Iran, returns to the land of her birth desperately seeking answers to a
mystery that has tormented her family all her life. With only a scribbled address to follow, Neda grabs a
taxi and plunges into the seamy streets of Tehran. As day turns into night, so does this city where
hookers, heroine and rock music come out to howl in the face of Islam.
Director: Ladan Yalzadeh
WORLD PREMIERE!!!
Duration: 20 min
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 2:30pm
The Generation of Nowhereland
Sponsored by: Javanan Magazine
A narrative documentary that tells the story of many Iranians who left their homeland to find peace and
happiness. It reveals their dreams, steps in their path and reviews their journey that still continues after
three generations.
Director: Sohrab Farajian
WORLD PREMIERE!!!
Duration: 37 min
Another Salute
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 4:30pm
Sponsored by: Javanan
Magazine
Khosrow Shakibaei went to the screening of the “Mix” (directed by Druish Mehrjui) in Chicago in 2000.
After the screening of that film, he tried for the first and last time to find and meet Behrouz Vossoughi.
Director: Hossein Khandan
LA PREMIERE!!!
Duration: 50 min
Donkey in Lahore
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 4:30pm
Sponsored by: Levantine
Cultural Center
Donkey in Lahore follows the quixotic courtship of Brian, an ex-goth puppeteer from Australia, and
Amber, the traditional Muslim girl he met and fell in love with during a short trip to Pakistan in 2000.
Upon his return to Australia, Brian decides to convert to Islam and return to Pakistan to seek her hand
in marriage. Can this unlikely couple survive the challenges they are about to face?
Director: Faramarz K-Rahber
Duration: 117 min
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 6:30pm
Niloofar
Twelve-year-old Niloofar dreams to learn how to read and write, but she lives in a village where education
is only for boys. Her mother, a well-known midwife, insists that Niloofar become her apprentice. While
assisting her mother during a delivery, Niloofar meets a woman who promises to teach her in secret.
Meantime, Niloofar's father has promised her in marriage to an older man once she becomes a woman.
Horrified by this notion, Niloofar does everything in her power to postpone her womanhood.
Director: Sabine El Gemayel
Duration: 87 min
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 8:45 pm
Hoviyate Man
A short subject documentary on Yas, an Iranian rapper, about rap, and what being Iranian means to him.
Director: Gobi M. Rahimi
Duration: 7 min
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 8:45 pm
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US PREMIERE!!!
Something Virtual
Sponsored by: OC
Life Magazine
An urgent letter compels Kevin to risk his life to seek out his best friend Amir, who has been believed to
be dead in Iran. The journey takes Kevin to Iran. While Kevin believes it is he who has set out to rescue
Amir, ultimately it is Amir who becomes Kevin’s savior. Amir helps Kevin experience the potential harmony
between the physical and spiritual, the heart and mind, and human and divine love.
Director: Ramin Lebastchi
US PREMIERE!!!
Duration: 100 min
Flags of Kaveh's Castle
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 12:30pm
Sponsored by: Golden Color Productions
Flags of Kaveh’s Castle follows a Qur’an through three different eras of Iran’s history, as well as an era of
Jerusalem (Palestine). From Neishabour (800 A.D.) to Jerusalem to Khorasan (an Eastern state of Iran at
the time of attack of Mongolian army) and finally current time in Iran.
Director: Mohamad Nourizad
US PREMIERE!!!
Slowliness
Duration: 100 min
Sponsored by: Golden
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 2:30pm
Color Productions
A story about a man who is looking for his missing wife. After some research, he discovers some dark
facts about his marriage.
Director: Farbod Khoshtinat
Help
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 2:30pm
Duration: 5 min
Sponsored by: RadioJavan.com
We follow Roman on the night he sets out on a mission to help save his dying mother’s life.
LA PREMIERE!!!
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 4:30pm
Director: Val Lauren
Duration: 40 min
In the Dark
Sponsored by: RadioJavan.com
The eve of Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran, a double agent, hunted by the new revolutionary
government, agrees to exchange crucial information with the CIA in return for safe passage out of the
country. Inspired by true events.
Director: Alex Fazeli
Duration: 17 min
Stony Karvansara
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 4:30pm
Sponsored by: RadioJavan.com
Stony Karvansara is a discovered area around Tehran, which has discoveries that go back as far as the
Saljooghian era.
Director: Siamak Nasiri Ziba
Duration: 7 min
New Horizon
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 4:30pm
Sponsored by: RadioJavan.com
The story of the first femal mechanic in Iran.
Director: Aref Mohammadi
Duration: 15 min
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 4:30pm
A Letter Home
A daughter of the Iranian Revolution recounts her search abroad for her mother’s lost stories in A Letter Home.
Director: Shahrzad M. Davis
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Duration: 4 min
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 7:30pm
LA PREMIERE!!!
Otis E.
After 15 years in solitary confinement, Otis is released into society. Under the supervision of an LA County
Probation Officer he moves into a transitional facility and attempts to start a new life. But the past is too
enticing and Otis misses his curfew. As his probation officer leads the search to find Otis, bits of Otis’
troubled and violent past are revealed, including his forced involvement in prison gladiator matches.
Director: Jeff Phillips
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 7:30pm
Duration: 86 min
Please Note: A Letter Home and Otis E. are part of the Award Ceremony
Purchase Tickets Today: www.NoorFilmFestival.com
All Screenings at:
Fine Arts Theatre
8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Located between S. Le Doux Rd. and S. Stanley Dr., one block West of LaCienega Blvd.
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Making Our Voices Heard!
In October 2008, Noor Film Festival gathered some of the top
Iranian actors, singers, and performers to create a Public
Service Announcement encouraging Iranian-Americans in the
United States to participate in the historic 2008 Presidential
Election by voting.
NFF thanks all the artists who donated their time to this
important cause.
We look forward to seeing you at the…
Los Angeles, May 2010
the 2010 NFF Lifetime
Achievement Award
will be presented to:
Behrouz
Vossoughi
NoorFilmFestival.com
12021 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 555, Los Angeles, CA 90025
TEL 310-281-5575 • FAX 310-826-3716 • [email protected]
presented by Siamak Ghahremani