FILM - CEN - ASIA

The Iranian Ethnographic Film Day held in November 2011 at the British Museum, London had a unique aspect in terms of the films selected for screening. All those films covered aspects of life along the southern coastline of Iran. Some of these films that covered elements of Zar rituals observed by the people living in Southern Iran or its islands included: Hengam, Land of Nobody (Maryam-e Jazirey-e Hengam) Director: Mehrdad Oskouei, Date: 2005, Running time: 26’ Country: Iran; Keywords: Hengam Island, fishermen’s traditional life, fishing techniques Iran Southwestern (Iran, Jonub-e Gharbi) Director: Mohammad Reza Fartousi Date: 2010, Running time: 52’, Country: Iran Keywords: Al-Azim Marshland, Iran-Iraq War, fishermen’s traditional life The Refrain of Locked Launches (Safir-e Lenjhayeh Darband) Director: Mehdi Omidvari Date: 2005, Running time: 38’, Country: Iran Keywords: fishermen’s ritual, Zar ritual, boat fabrication The Persian Gulf (Daryay-e Pars) Director: Man

                                                                            Soudabeh Babagap                                 Born in 1971 in Iran. Immigrated from southern Iran after the Iraqi-imposed war. Graduated from the Islamic Training Center of Filmmaking in cinema directing. Besides filmmaking, she has also been involved in films as a writer, painter, poet, assistant director, scriptwriter and researcher. Works published in the book   A Selection of Works . This is what she says about her approach to the way she took it for filming Noah's Ark:   I think the visual structure of Noah’s Ark is the direct result of the characters of my film—the canal, the ruins, the burnt trunks of the palms, and the drowned ships. These characters brought about the visual structure of the film. Moreover, as soon as I think of a subject, I imagine it in a specific visual form and gradually develop and refine it in my mind, just like what you experience in painting and poetry when fo

BIOGRAPHY Independent filmmaker and photographer, Mehrdad Oskouei was born in 1969 in Tehran. He has a B.A. in film directing from University of Arts. Oskouei started his artistic career as a theater actor and filmmaker in 1981 and 1988 respectively.  The most intersting aspect of Mehrdad Oskuei is that he is the founding committee of the Anthropology and Culture Association. He has made rich contribution to the understanding of anthropology through the medium of film http://anthropology.ir/node/5941 http://anthropology.ir/node/3158 http://irandocfilm.org/membersfa.asp?id=34 FESTIVALS Oskouei is well acclaimed as he has won eighty awards for films contesting in 50  national and international festivals including:  International Short Film Festival (Iran)  Golden Award for Best Film                                                                      Festival Der nationen (Australia)  Silver Award for Best Documentary Doc Film Festival Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Leipz

Pir e Hira is a documentary directed by Mahvash Shekholeslami, made by the Iran's Young Film Makers' Union. This documentary opens a widow for viewers to look at life in the southern shores of Iran. Mahvash Shekholeslami manages to establish a meaningful link between the documentary films and anthropological/sociological studies. Perhaps it is for this reason that is was selected for  the  Iranian  Ethnographic Film Day: The Persian Gulf and Its People Through Image held at the British Museum.  The event was jointly organised by Professor  Bill  Beeman, Chair, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, USA) and Dr Pedram Khosronejad, Department of Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews, Scotland, with financial support from the Houtan Foundation, USA, and collaboration of Iranian Documentary Film makers Association, Iran, and Documentary and Experimental Film Centre, Iran. The film is about an elderly male who lives a lonely life on the Qeshm I

A Fishing Trip  tells the story of  Captain Azmoon and  seven of his sailors who set off  to fish at the and  of the fishing season when the  empty sea can  promise no catch.  For producer Ibrahim Mokhtari , his documentary A Fishing Journey serves as an interesting test case of making a documentary amidst uncertain and unpredictable circumstances. Here is a somewhat liberal English rendition of his description : Prior to commencing on the expedition, the fishing crew gave us an  optimistic outlook for a rewarding fishing trip promising a big catch. In reality, they were to venture all this outside the normal fishing season. As a result, a few days turn out to be without result, no actual fishing taking place compelling the expedition to get fish from a passing by launch to feed themselves. Hence, many aspects of the documentary reflect the dismal prospects of the fishermen. There was frustration of the filming crew who aimed to film them in action. Without n

This documentary comes with many unique characteristics. Firstly, it brings glimpses of the past memories to which many of the growing Afghan generations have very little access, if at all. It reminds observers of peaceful times and days of affluence. Secondly, while tracing back the past of a person, this documentary also opens many windows to the realities that the present day Afghans face in a poignant way. Seen through the eyes of a Kabul born film studies student at New York University viewers get a look at the lives of what Afghan individuals and families go through in their homeland and abroad. The documentary tells us about Wazhmah, the girl ripped away from her childhood, her family uprooted from their home and now living far away in the USA. We also get to know about Wazhmah’s father, Ahmad Osman, the kind-hearted doctor (seen on the right) who despite having lost his youth days in prison during the socialist regime, later dedicates rest of his life to serve his Afghan compa