Persian Film Festival 2014
Image: Manuscripts Don't Burn
Paddington’s Palace Chauvel Cinema proudly presents the third Persian Film Festival.
Filmmaker Amin Palangi is co-founder of the event alongside Sanaz Fotouhi. This independent cultural film festival is centred on a variety of Persian communities while retaining widespread social and political conscience in the belief that any society can explore these issues while being entertained and educated.
Comprised of six feature-length films distributed over the four days the Persian Film Festival may be young in age but it is old at heart. All of the pieces are set in Iran’s fair scenery excluding Another Day – this French-Iranian collaboration shadows various interactions between people of many nationalities from one sunrise to sunset.
It all kicks off with the highly controversial masterpiece Manuscripts Don’t Burn – a project that not only banned filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof from his own country, but furthermore resulted in imprisonment.
This year’s selection will undoubtedly challenge Australian audiences with its creative subtlety. An event that’s as sociable as it is relevant, the opening and closing ceremonies promise to ignite passionate discussion with a glass of wine in hand.
“We set out to bring together stories that share that human essence and we hope to break stereotypes and forge new connections through film,” says Mr Fotouhi. (RBM)
Sep 11-14, Palace Chauvel Cinema, 17 Oxford St, Paddington, $18-35, persianfilmfestival.com
BY ROCIO BELINDA MENDEZ
