Cannes 2023
Terrestrial Verses :: Ayeh Haye Zamini
Life in totalitarian Iran in the satirical Terrestrial Verses

    Official Selection
    By Tarik Khaldi, festival-cannes.com
    published on 23.05.2023

Inspired by the intricate rhymes of ghazal, a classic form of Persian poetry, writer-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have constructed a thoroughly modern work of bracing concision, elegance and blistering deadpan humor, one that pulses with sorrow and outrage over the absurdity of authoritarian dictates that aim to crush souls. --Hollywood Reporter

The actors are all pitch-perfect, etching full-blooded characters in scenes of 10 minutes or less. In true poetic spirit, there isn’t a wasted word or moment. --Hollywood Reporter


AYEH HAYE ZAMINI (TERRESTRIAL VERSES) by ALI ASGARI & ALIREZA KHATAMI. Avec l'équipe du film / With the film crew

The Festival is showcasing the films and careers of two Iranian directors. Ali Asgari has twice participated in the Short Films Competition with Il Silenzio (The Silence) (2016) and Bishtar Az Do Saat (More than Two Hours) (2013), while Alireza Khatami counts himself among the winners of the Résidence of the Cinéfondation in 2012 for Les Versets de l’oubli (Oblivion Verses). The two directors combine their expertise in Ayeh Haye Zamini (Terrestrial Verses), presented in Un Certain Regard.

Daily life in Iran through nine stories. Ayeh Haye Zamini (Terrestrial Verses) portrays men, women, and children in apparently mundane situations in which the absurd comes to disrupt everything.

The film was inspired by an evening stroll taken by Khatami and Asgari. When Katami had the shooting of his film cancelled because he didn’t have proper authorisation from the regime, Asgari accompanied him out one evening. Both read Iranian poetry. “We both noticed this technique typical of Farsi poetry,” Alireza Khatami explained to Variety, “One person expresses themselves in a verse, and another person does the same in the next verse. It’s thus a form of dialogue.”


Gohar Kheirandish in a scene from Ayeh Haye Zamini (Terrestrial Verses)

In addition to this formal inspiration, the two directors shared absurd anecdotes experienced by their friends and relatives. Writing the screenplay didn’t take long, and shooting began two weeks later. There are two parts to the film. The first part takes place before the Women, Life, Freedom movement, and the other during the movement itself, which helped nurture the project.

Through these slices of life, Ayeh Haye Zamini (Terrestrial Verses) focuses on what fetters the Iranian population. “It was important for us to address the totalitarian system that control the lives of individuals,” Ali Asgari explains, “This starts with the body politic and everything related to it; the clothes, the food, the way you can walk or sit down, etc.,” Alireza Khatami adds.



On Sunday, 21 May, the red carpet welcomed thirty prominent Iranian women who came to support the independent Iranian female directors as well as the Women, Life, Freedom movement. Actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won the Best Actress Award in 2022, was on hand for the occasion.