Synopsis

Eighty-fi ve years ago, for some moral issues, a man together with his young son, kills his own daughter and buries her at the basement of their house. The hidden grave would create a connection between subsequent generations of the family. --labiennale

A young woman is murdered by her own father, with the help of her younger brother. She is secretly buried in the cellar, a space where the women of the family weave carpets and perform other domestic chores.



Her loss, or perhaps her presence, continues to haunt the family as it reverberates through the following generations. Ayari’s film is staged exclusively in this house and was banned several times in Iran.

Cast: Mehdi Hashemi, Mehran Rajabi, Nasser Hashemi, Shahab Hosseini, Nazanin Farahani, Mina Sadati, Negah Khaghani, Masoumeh Bafandeh, Mojdeh Hamrang, Setareh Mirmohammad, Padina Rahnama, Ainaz Azarhoush, Moeinodin Oshaghi, Azadeh Movahhed, Goli Sharifloo, Hossein Fallah, Mehdi Kheirollahi, Eghlima Raeesi, Rasool Salimian, Asghar Kordbache, Mojtaba Salmani, Naser Sohrabi

Produced by: Kianoush Ayari, Shahrokh Dastoortabar, Ali Soltani
Music by: Behzad Abdi
Cinematography by: Dariush Ayari
Editing by: Kianoush Ayari, Farhad Ghodsi


Venice (Horizons)


"The Paternal House" was released at the Fajr 32nd Film Festival after a 3-year ban and was praised by most critics. Hossein Mozezinia wrote on his Facebook page that the film is one of the best in the history of Iranian cinema. Movahed Montagham wrote about the film in Shargh newspaper: Ayari in "The Paternal House" has zoomed in on a culture that cultivates secrecy within itself, and all the crimes, violence, and subsequent knots are born from it. The characters in the film are deliberately trying to keep others from noticing their work. --Wikipedia Farsi