68 minutes / Color
English; Farsi / English subtitles
Release: 2017
Copyright: 2008
A favorite with film festival audiences, Massoud Bakhshi's musical comedy is both humorous and critical in its portrayal of contemporary Iranian life. Using both archival footage and original footage and a playful "meta" vantage point, this documentary-fiction hybrid film traces Iranian history back to Tehran's founding 1241 BC, through a wide range of historical eras and arriving at present day.
From the city's foundation as a small rural village where exceptionally delicious pomegranates through periods under oppressors to today, Bakhshi succeeds in documenting 150 years of history and its contradictions. Crazy, dynamic and ironic, this film takes us on a journey into the history of Tehran.
"Bakhshi treats us to an intelligently edited musical compilation, [following Iranian history through] various oppressors; collective opium addiction; visits by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt ('You really have big oil wells'); the Islamic revolution; the explosive growth of the metropolis to the mountain of waste and the current transportation problem."—IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Select Accolades
Reflections on Islam and clothing, Iranian cinema, Persian painting and more characterize this thought-provoking artistic documentary.
Reza Haeri | 2010 | 35 minutes | Color
Showcases the changing cultural styles of Iran and its clerical elite through its portrait of one master tailor and his time-honored craft.
Reza Haeri | 2010 | 31 minutes | Color
A view of the Iranian Green Revolution protest movement, which followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 election victory.
Anonymous | 2011 | 57 minutes | Color | French; Farsi | English subtitles
Depicts clashes in modern Iran between extreme fundamentalism and young people who are pushing for social change, filming with soldiers, religious leaders, students, artists and intellectuals.
Thierry Michel | 2003 | 58 minutes | Color | Farsi | English subtitles
The intertwined history of Iran and its cinema, from the first silent films to the talkies, from the Shah's regime to the Islamic revolution, and the international cinematic success of today.
Nader Takmil Homayoun | 2007 | 98 minutes | Color | Farsi | English subtitles
