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Leila's Brothers

Men dancing in a ballroom.
May 14, 2023 - 7:00 pm


Faranak

Iran, 2021

Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival Finalist

Fired from his job, behind on his rent and abandoned by his wife, a burnt-out taxi driver gets an unusual passenger who is more similar to him than meets the eye. Faranak is the story of an unlikely friendship and the chance encounters whose values we often fail to recognize.

Digital, color, in Persian with English subtitles,17 min. Director: Mehrnoush Alia. Screenwriter: Mehrnoush Alia. With: Mirsaeed Molavian, Mojde Daie, Ebrahim Azizi.

Leila’s Brothers

Iran, 2022

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it premiered in competition, Leila’s Brothers is a sweeping family drama that cuts to the heart of Iranian’s patriarchal society. The incomparable Taraneh Alidoosti delivers a magnetic performance as a weary sister whose future depends on her feckless brothers and father. When she sets a plan in motion to break free, old family faultlines crack open and it’s anyone’s guess where the pieces will fall. Writer-director Saeed Roostaee vaults to the forefront of leading Iranian filmmakers with his bravura orchestration of a powerhouse ensemble cast and the story’s series of twists and turns.

DCP, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 159 min. Director: Saeed Roustaee. Screenwriter: Saeed Roustaee. With: Payman Maadi, Taraneh Alidoosti, Navid Mohammadzadeh.