1st Iranian Film Festival New York

Thursday, January 10 - Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The first annual Iranian Film Festival New York presents a selection of acclaimed and award-winning films from one of the world’s most vital and distinguished national cinemas. The festival aims to unite two strands of Iranian moviemaking – the classic art-house Iranian cinema beloved by cinephiles around the world, and new cutting-edge works that showcase the adventurousness and daring nature of younger Iranian directors.

The festival’s Opening Night selection will be the NY premiere of Bahman Farmanara’s TALE OF THE SEA (Hekayat-e Darya, 97 min) on Thursday, Jan 10 at 7pm. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with writer-producer-director-star Farmanara. The veteran producer and director has been active in Iranian cinema since the 1970s, and the festival is proud to have him as its Guest of Honor.

The festival will also present the NY premiere of Farmanara’s controversial comedy-drama I WANT TO DANCE (Delam Mikhad, 95 min), which was just released from a four-year ban in Iran, along with a retrospective screening of the filmmaker’s striking political allegory TALL SHADOWS OF THE WIND (1978) – one of the most acclaimed films of the Iranian New Wave.

The program boasts 10 features, including Jafar Panahi’s Cannes sensation 3 FACES, the Berlinale hits PIG and HENDI & HORMOZ, plus three shorts and a special screening of noted scholar Jamsheed Akrami’s documentaries on Iranian cinema. The festival closes with the North American premiere of Houman Seyedi’s SHEEPLE, a thrilling action film about criminal gangs, featuring rising star Navid Mohammadzadeh. A complete schedule is below.

IrFFNY is co-founded and co-programmed by film critic Godfrey Cheshire, who has written extensively about Iranian cinema, and Festival Director Armin Miladi, who distributes Iranian films and runs the annual Iranian Film Festival of Australia, now in its eighth year. The festival is presented under the banner of Miladi’s company Daricheh Cinema.

Tickets for the Opening Night screening of TALE OF THE SEA are $20/$15 IFC Center members. Tickets for other festival screenings are $17 adults/$13 seniors/$12 IFC Center members. For more information on Iranian Film Festival New York  (#IrFFNY) please visit www.irfilmfestny.com .

Thursday, January 10

7:00pm            Opening Night: TALE OF THE SEA (dir. Bahman Farmanara) – with Farmanara in-person for Q&A!

9:40pm            Opening Night Encore: TALE OF THE SEA (dir. Bahman Farmanara) – with Farmanara in-person for extended intro!

Friday, January 11

7:00pm            PIG (dir. Mani Haghighi), screening with short Animal (dir. Bahman Ark)

9:30pm            HENDI & HORMOZ (dir. Abbas Amini), screening with short Lunch Time (dir. Alireza Ghasemi)

Saturday, January 12

4:45pm            THE HOME (dir. Asghar Yousefinejad)

6:30pm            I WANT TO DANCE (dir. Bahman Farmanara) – plus a Q&A with Farmanara!

9:00pm            SLY (dir. Kamal Tabrizi)

Sunday, January 13

5:00pm            IRANIAN CINEMA THROUGH THE LENS OF JAMSHEED AKRAMI

7:15pm            3 FACES (dir. Jafar Panahi)

9:30pm            76 MINUTES AND 15 SECONDS WITH ABBAS KIAROSTAMI (dir. Seifollah Samadian), screening with short Take Me Home (2016, dir. Abbas Kiarostami)

Monday, January 14

7:00pm            TALL SHADOWS OF THE WIND (1979, dir. Bahman Farmanara) – plus a Q&A with Farmanara!

9:30pm            Encore Screening: PIG (dir. Mani Haghighi)

Tuesday, January 15

7:00pm            Closing Night: SHEEPLE (dir. Houman Seyedi)

9:30pm            Closing Night Encore: SHEEPLE (dir. Houman Seyedi)

Series Films

Past Films