Around 1900, on a trip to Europe, the Shah of Iran Mozafar al-Din Sah Kayar attended a cinema screening in France and was so impressed that he ordered his photographer to buy a Gaumont camera. From then on he promoted cinema in Iran by commissioning films, opening cinemas and dubbing many French films into Farsi for the enjoyment of Persian audiences.
This fact clarifies the reason for the numerous productions to which we are accustomed by the directors of this country and their presence in the most elite film festivals, where they are frequently awarded prizes.
Many European directors such as Theo Angelopoulos, Manoel de Oliveira, Ermanno Olmi, Amos Gitai, Tony Gatlif or Raphaël Nadjari have declared themselves fervent admirers of Iranian cinema and films such as Kandahar, Turtles fly too, Buddha exploded out of shame o Nobody knows anything about Persian cats have won the recognition of filmmakers and audiences alike.
An example of this is Víctor Erice's admiration for Abbas Kiarostami, which was expressed in the exhibition Correspondencewhich reproduced an exchange of letters in audio-visual format between these two cult directors, the most visible face of the so-called New Iranian Cinema.
In this cycle we show four films that can be considered gems of Iranian cinema: Too far, too close (Kheili dour, kheili nazdik, 2005) y A sugar cube (Ye habe ghand, 2011), by Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi; Gold and Copperby Homayoun Assadian, an award-winning Sufi film; and The painting wellby young director Maziaar Miri.
- 3 November, 8.30 p.m.
Too far, too close (Kheili dour, kheili nazdik).
Directed by Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi. Iran, 2005, 121 minutes.
Synopsis
A neurologist is forced to revise the meaning of his life when his son is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. A journey through the desert brings him face to face with a group of seemingly normal people who challenge his views and values.
Winner of the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the Cairo International Festival 2005.
The film will be shown in its original version with Spanish subtitles. Free admission until full capacity is reached.
In collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Iran.
Portuguese