FOCUS ON IRANIAN CINEMA
21st MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL
August 22 - September 2, 1997

Montreal, August 5, 1997 - This year the World Film Festival presents Focus on Iranian Cinema, a cinema that remains close to its community, in touch with the lives of ordinary people, their dreams, their hopes and their hardships. The early 1980's saw the rise of a new generation of Iranian filmmakers and as early as 1987 the World Film Festival was presenting Iranian films thus promoting greater international awareness of its budding industry. In recent years, other filmmakers, including some women, have contributed in shaping a cinematography that is as intense as it is diverse.

In official competition, THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN (Bachehaye Aseman), written and directed by Majid Majidi (Baduk, WFF 1991 and Le P�re, WFF 1996). The film presents a striking portrait of two children growing up in Iran. When Ali loses his sister's shoes on the way home from the shoemaker, the two children decide to share Ali's shoes, which results in a series of misfortunes.

The following films are showcased in Focus on Iranian Cinema:

BETROTHAL (Namzadi), directed by Naser Gholamrezai, based on a screenplay that he co-wrote with Morteza Mokhtari, is a story of love obstructed by destiny in a world where tradition and familial obligations are still closely observed.

LEILA, written and directed by Dariush Mehrjui, and based on the short story "Mahnaz Ansarian", is the story of a woman married to a man she loves dearly who discovers that she can never bear children of her own. Forced by her mother- in-law, Leila must consent to her husband taking a second wife.

THE GAZELLE (Ghazal), by Mojtaba Raie, is based on her own screenplay. Masumeh sets out to write the story of her mother's life from her own point of view. Her mother lived through a period of great change in Iran, when women were coerced into abandoning the veil and adopting new customs. Past and present converge, as Masumeh reviews the events of her mother's life in light of her own life and problems.

Director Jafar Panahi, awarded the "Cam�ra d'Or" at Cannes for his film "The White Balloon" (and presented at the WFF in 1995), returns to Montreal this year to present his latest film THE MIRROR (Ayene), for which he also wrote the screenplay. While a football match between Iran and South Korea is being broadcast on television, a young girl wanders off after her mother forgets to pick her up at school.

In coproduction with Japan, Mohammad-Ali Talebi presents A BAG OF RICE (Kiseje Berenj), based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Hushang Moradi Kermani. The film tells the story of a young girl and an old woman whose shopping trip to the store for a bag of rice is met with several humorous and unexpected vicissitudes.

CARDBOARD HOTEL (Hotel Carton), written and directed by Sirus Alvand, explores several universal issues that are common to people worldwide: a child raised in a single-parent family, adolescent rebellion and the allure of petty crime for easy money.

The subject of war is at the center of LEILY IS WITH ME (Leily Ba Man Ast) directed by Kamal Tabrizi and co-written by Kamal Tabrizi and Reza Maghsudi. During the long conflict between Iraq and Iran, a cameraman discovers that if he agrees to serve in the war zone he will get the loan he needs. As he moves closer to battle he undergoes experiences that are both comic and hazardous, and quite unexpected.

The female director Yasmin Malek Nasr presents her first-feature length film COMMON PLIGHT based on her own screenplay. Four friends meet at a twentieth anniversary celebration, and share their hopes and their fears, and discover how much they really have in common.

THE FIFTH SEASON, an Iranian-French co-production, is the first feature-length film by director Rafi Pitts. The struggle for power between two families, the Kamalvandi's and the Jamalvandi's, has plagued them for so long that they no longer remember why they are enemies. Despite these circumstances, Karamat, a Kamalvandi, is set to marry Mehrbanou, the daughter of a Jamalvandi. As the marriage collapses and the struggle intensifies, Mehrbanou realizes that she sincerely loves Karamat.