Filmfarsi (2019, Documentary)

Synopsis

In opening a Pandora’s box of Iranian popular films, Filmfarsi uncovers the cinematic and social history of Iran under the Shah, suppressed since the 1979 revolution.



Cast: Pouri Banaei, Reza Beyk Imanverdi, Mohamad Ali Fardin, Forouzan, Iraj Ghaderi, Googoosh, Iren, Naser Malek Motiee, Saeed Rad, Manouchehr Vossough, Behrouz Vossoughi, Marjan, Asadollah Yekta, Arasteh, Zohouri, Garsha, Sepehrnia, Motevaselani..

A poison syringe that injects moral depravity into unsuspecting citizens. Trash, sleaze, shameless entertainment. Dear child has many names, and this is especially true of the so-called 'Filmfarsi', the collective term for the entertainment films that dominated Iranian cinema during the Shah era from 1953 (beginning with the CIA-backed coup against the elected President Mossadeq) until the revolution in 1979 .The films – filled with dance, sex and violence as they were – were naturally banned upon the formation of the Islamic Republic, and frankly it's no great loss, because the films were (with exceptions) pathetic.

But, but, but. The London-based film historian Ehsan Khoshbakht has now taken one for the team and trawled through the hundreds of film Farsi that have survived the purge, collected the most telling, acidic and significant sequences and commented on them with wit and bite. An eye-opening, entertaining, bizarre and educational documentary has come out of it.

The film had its world premiere in Cinematek's series 'Iran's forgotten cultural history 1960-90' in 2016, but is now available in a tighter, updated version. (DFI | Danish Film Institute)

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We now know Iranian film as a cinema of artistic ambition and discreet (and sometimes direct) resistance, but before the revolution of 1979, Iran had a vigorous popular movie culture, with melodramas, sex, action and plenty of macho stars.

Ehsan Khoshbakht, a co-director of the respected festival Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna (Italy), narrates his film journey into that era in this stunning compilation/distillation of films that were among the casualties of Iran’s transformation after the fall of the Shah. A notorious event in 1978 was prophtic. Islamists firebombed the Rex Theater in Abadan, killing 470 who were watching The Deer (Gavazhna), directed by Masoud Kimiai and starring the legendary Behrouz Vossoughi. For most of today’s audience, Filmfarsi will be a poetic introduction to a rough and tumble screen history that they never knew.  To those who lived with these films, Filmfarsi is a kaleidoscope of popular archaeology. (Haifa Film Festival)

Read about this film

Country: Iran | United Kingdom
Language: Farsi
Color: Color | Black & White
Runtime: 84 min.