Namak Magazine - 16th Celebration of Iranian Cinema

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16th Annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema
by Ali Derakhshan
Namak Magazine, Spring 2006 - pg. 12

Imagery, substance and cinematic depth and become the signature of Iranian films; and Iranian films have become reflections of a shrouded society. They are fragments of a greater portrait.

This year’s collection of films presented at the Annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema at UCLA (now in its 16th year) reflected the socio-political environment present in Iran. The collection of seven films revisited familiar themes such as the role of spirituality, poverty, family and relationships within the diverse Iranian community.

The series opened with the much anticipated Iron Island (Jazireh Ahani), directed by Mohammad Rasoulof. The film is about impoverished families living on a sinking oil tanker. It doesn’t take much to see Iron Island as an allegory about Iranian life in general. Ali Nasirian, one of Iran’s veteran actors, plays Captain Nemat, who rules the ship with a heavy hand, but at the same time is like a caring father to the people who live on board.

The ship sustains its inhabitants by providing everything from chalk molded from empty bullet cartridges, to income from selling oil still in the tanker. The residents even cut away pieces of the the ship to pawn as scrap iron.

One of the most absorbing characters is Baby Fish (Bache Mahi), an innocent young boy who uses a net to catch trapped fish that have come in through cracks in the tanker’s belly. He liberates them back to the sea.

Another is defiant Ahmad (Hossein Farzi Zadeh – Beautiful City). He is in love with a young girl whose father would never agree to their union. Ahmad’s only contact with her, who like the rest of the women covers her face with an inauspicious mask, is during their nightly exchange of personal belongings through port holes.

Kamal Tabrizi’s A Piece of Bread (Yek Teke Nan) like The Lizard (Marmulak) is a look at religion. It is the spirituality and the non-sectarian side of Islam that is explored. The non-preachy mystical elements, ever present in the works of our beloved Rumi and Hafez are portrayed in the film.

The film’s main characters are set to investigate a rumored miracle. Their pursuit takes them on a journey to a shrine in the mountains where an illiterate woman is said to have memorized the Koran overnight. The beautiful cinematography of Hossein Jaffarian and the layered soundtrack of composer Peyman Yazdanian create a magnificent space in which Tabrizi subtly reminds us that perhaps the miracle of life is already here.

The other films screened were also noteworthy. First time director and well known actress Niki Karimi’s debut film, One Night (Yek Shab) and another actor turned director Ali Mosaffa’s Portrait of a Lady Far Away (Sima-ye Zani Dar Doordast) both display urban life in Iran. In retrospect, the films recall Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry (Mazeh Gilas). Wake Up Arezoo (Bidar Sho Arezoo!) is a touching film made right after the Bam earthquake. It too recalls a Kiarostami film, his own post-quake drama And Life Goes On (Zendegi va Digar Hich).