Iranian Movie night: At Five in the Afternoon (2003)

At_Five_in_the_Afternoon_Maysam_MakhmalbafSunday September 20th 2015, Iranian Movie Night: At Five in the Afternoon (Persian: پنج عصر, Panj é asr‎) by Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran, 2003, 106 min.). In Dari Persian with English subtitles. Door opens at 8pm, film begin at 9pm. Free admission.

It tells the story of an ambitious young woman trying to gain an education in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban. The title comes from a Federico García Lorca poem and is a tale of flourishing against the odds. At Five in the Afternoon was the first film to be shot in Kabul after the NATO invasion.
After the fall of the Taliban regime, the schools again open their doors to girls. Nogreh (Agheleh Rezaie) dreams of liberation. She wants to become Head of State (following Benazir Bhutto’s example), in order to reform the status of the Afghan woman. But the girl and her family only meet misery and desolation in a country in ruins.
This third full-length film by the talented Iranian filmmaker is without question her most pessimistic. It’s the prolongation of the segment she directed within the framework of the collective film 11′ 09′ 01. It also echoes the film Kandahar, directed by her father.

More info about the director: http://www.makhmalbaf.com/?q=marziyeh
More about the film: http://www.makhmalbaf.com/?q=film/At-five-in-the-afternoon

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Kurdish Movie Night: Blackboards (“Takhté siah”)

MV5BMTUwOTM0NzgyNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjU1OTQyMQ@@._V1_SY317_CR4,0,214,317_AL_Sunday June 14th 2015, Kurdish Movie Night: Blackboards ( تخته سیاه‎, by Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran, 2000, 88 min.). In Kurdish with English subtitles. Door opens at 8pm, film begin at 9pm. Free admission.

After the chemical bombing of Halabcheh in Iraq a number of Kurd refugee teachers seek for pupils who are willing to educate around the border as they carry their blackboards like Jesus’ crosses. One of them encounters a group of teenage smugglers and tries to convince them to educate as they carry their heavy backpacks full of smuggled stuff. The other teacher encounters a group of old and tired men, whom after years of migration are going to their own country to die there. But it seems that hunger and insecurity has not left any chance for the education of the generations.

The film focuses on a group of Kurdish refugees after the chemical bombing of Halabja by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. The screenplay was co-written by Makhmalbaf with her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The dialogue is entirely in Kurdish and Makhmalbaf describes it as “something between reality and fiction. Smuggling, being homeless, and people’s efforts to survive are all part of reality… the film, as a whole, is a metaphor.” […Lees verder]