An archetypal story about the last honest man (charismatic thirtysomething Reza), who stands up to local corruption (a mob corporation in the remote northern Iranian countryside) even at the cost of endangering his own family. This original and engrossing drama by a respected Iranian filmmaker won the main prize in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes fest.
Charismatic thirty-something Reza, who hides a gentle soul behind the gloomy façade of a man of action, leads a simple life with his wife and son far from the chaos of the big city. In a remote location somewhere in northern Iran, he puts all his energy into the family business: a goldfish farm. But even here he begins to feel the growing power and capital of a rapacious private enterprise that forces the local famers to give up their livelihood to its own benefit. “If you don’t obey the prevalent value system, which itself seems to be totally immoral, you become seen as an outsider and a troublemaker,” says the respected director with regard to his film. This original and engrossing drama about the last honest man willing to stand up to a corrupt system even at the cost of endangering his own family won the main prize in the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes film festival.
Karel Och
117 min / Color, DCP
Director Mohammad Rasoulof
/ Screenplay Mohammad Rasoulof
/ Dir. of Photography Ashkan Ashkani
/ Music Peyman Yazdanian
/ Editor Mohammadreza Muini, Meysam Muini
/ Producer Mohammad Rasoulof
/ Cast Reza Akhlaghirad, Soudabeh Beizaee, Nasim Adabi, Misagh Zare, Zeinab Shabani, Zhila Shahi
/ Sales The Match Factory
Mohammad Rasoulof (b. 1972, Shiraz, Iran) first took an interest in theater in his youth. After earning a degree in sociology, he went on to study film editing at Sooreh University in Tehran. He debuted in 2002 with the documentary The Twilight; the drama Iron Island (2005) premiered at Cannes and was later shown in Another View at KVIFF. He has also directed The White Meadows (2009), Goodbye (2011), Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013) and A Man of Integrity (2017). Following the 2009 presidential election in Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof and his colleague Jafar Panahi were arrested while making a movie. At the ensuing trial, Rasoulof was charged with anti-government activities and collusion against national security; he spent a year in prison.
The Match Factory
Domstrasse 60, 50668, Cologne
Germany
Phone: +49 221 539 7090
E-mail: [email protected]
Kaveh Farnam
Investor, Producer
Mohammad Rasoulof
Film Director
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