1. Copresented by Asia Society and the Global Film Initiative
October/November 2009
All screenings at Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, NYC
See discount code below!
Focusing on lives of women in contemporary Iran, this mini-film series presents portraits of strong women negotiating their space and freedom in a narrow world of strict social conventions.
For more information, visit Asia Society
Women’s Prison (Courtesy of the Global Film Initiative)
Women’s Prison
Manijeh Hekmat. Iran. 2002. 106min. 35mm.
Friday, October 23, 2009, 7PM
Banned in Iran, this taboo-breaking film uses the claustrophobic life of women behind bars as a metaphor for Iranian society since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Covering a span of almost two decades, the film centers on the relationship between an inmate who is jailed for killing a violent stepfather and a warden who is at once stern and humane. As time goes, we see changes in Iranian society reflected in the microscopic world of one prison. Part of the Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens collection.
“Riveting. One of Iran’s most prominent female filmmakers.”- Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle
“Chilling…controversial. A compelling sociological portrait.” – Alissa Simon, Senses of Cinema
The Day I Became a Woman
Marziyeh Meshkini. Iran. 2000. 78min. 35mm.
Friday, October 30, 2009, 7PM
Three loosely connected short stories portray women in three stages of life-a young girl who is about to turn nine, the age of womanhood, when she will have to wear the chador and stop playing with boys; a young woman who enters a cycling race against the objections of all the men in her clan; an elderly woman who takes the biggest shopping trip in her life to buy all she has ever wanted. Stunningly shot on the free-trade island of Kish in the Persian Gulf, the film is written by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, husband of the filmmaker.
“wonderful stories, great pieces of cinema and, above all, warmly human works.”-Jamie Russell, BBC
“[a] stunner of a film”-Stephen Holden, New York Times
Border Café
Kambozia Partovi. Iran. 2005. 105min. 35mm.
Friday, November 6, 2009. 7PM
A young widowed mother takes a defiant stand and runs her late husband’s restaurant against the threat of men in her community to shut down her business. Hiding in the kitchen so that her customers do not see her, this woman struggles for independence and against a rigid society. Taking place on the Iran-Turkey border, the film reveals an unusual landscape where Iranian and Western societies converge. Director Partovi also wrote The Circle (2000), which won Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion award. Part of the Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens collection.
“a memorable portrait of one woman in Iran-and, by extension, of the bleak sorrows of millions of women’s lives.”-Louise Kennedy, Boston Globe
Tickets for all screenings: $7 members/students/seniors; $11 nonmembers.
Use discount code CultC88539 to buy tickets at member rate online. (No surcharge for online ticketing)
Box Office:
Phone: 212-517-ASIA
Web: https://tickets.asiasociety.org
2. As an official selection of the Chashama Film Festival, the documentary “Marathon Beirut, For the Love of Lebanon”, produced and directed by Deborah Harse, will be screened at 7:45 PM on Saturday Oct 24th at 217 East 42nd Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave.
The runtime is 73 minutes, tickets are $7.
For more info please visit www.marathonbeirutfilm.com and www.chafilmfest.com.
Contact: dh@deborahharse.com
Synopsis:
In the aftermath of the 2006 July War, despite devastation and political upheaval, the Beirut Marathon Association chose not to cancel their November marathon, but rather to hold it as a testament to Lebanese resilience. But just five days before the race, a government minister, Pierre Gemayel, was assassinated. After much deliberation they again decided not to cancel, but to postpone the race by one week. Then, just two days before the new marathon date, Hezbollah called for a rally to overthrow the existing government. There was concern that the demonstration might make the Lebanese fearful of coming out for the marathon, but instead there were even more participants than expected. The event took place with 22,000 people, in solidarity, running or walking the 5km, 10km and 42 km races with “For the Love of Lebanon” as the theme. And of course, a Kenyan won.
