Dear Friends of The Film Society:
Please be informed that the Film Society will not be having any programs during the months of June and July.
We will meet again the latter part of August 2008.
Thank you for your past support. Have a great summer!
COMING SOON
Solayman Minassian:
A Man with a Movie Camera
(Mardi Ba Doorbin Filmbardari)
Writer/Director: Parviz Jahed
Camera: Parviz Jahed
Sound: Hassan Zohorie
Music: Selective
Editor: Alireza Rasoulinejad
Producer: Parviz Jahed
Executive Producer: Parviz Jahed
2006, England/Iran, 34 min., Color & B&W, Documentary
Synopsis:
The House Is Black (by Forough Farrokhzad, 1963) was the first Iranian documentary to garner international acclaim and it received several awards from around the world, including the Best Documentary Prize at the 1963 Oberhausen Film Festival. The cameraman of this outstanding documentary film was Solayman Minassian. This short documentary is about him and his career. Minassian was one of the great Iranian cinematographers of the early 60s. He shot some of the most brilliant Iranian documentaries when he joined Golestan Film Unit. He was the main cinematographer of Ebrahim Golestan’s controversial documentaries and fictional films, such as Wave, Stone and Carol, Marlic Hills, The Royal Treasures, and, of course, Golestan’s masterpiece, Brick and Mirror.
Brilliant camera movement, extremely realistic use of lighting, impressive monochrome photography and artistic composition are the main characteristics of Minassian’s stylish cinematography. In this short documentary we find Minassian sitting with his wife Parkoee in a relatively small apartment, as he talks about the past: of Iranian cinema in the ‘60s, the role of Golestan in pioneering the New Wave of Iranian cinema, as well as the making of The House Is Black and other intriguing issues regarding the man and his profession.
Despite his talent and great passion for cinema he has not gotten involved in the film industry since he entered in the UK. Instead he runs a dry-cleaning store in London, which he has done ever since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1978.
The film is a profile of a great, talented artist and outstanding cameraman whose skill and capability have gone to waste in exile.
About the filmmaker:
Parviz Jahed was born in 1960. He received a BA in Dramatic :Literature from the University of Tehran and an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Art (Tehran). Jahed is currently working on his PhD on the New Wave of Iranian Cinema at the University of Westminster in London. He has been writing articles on cinema since 1988, which have been published in such Iranian film and cultural magazines as Donya-ye Sokhan, Gozaresh Film, Faslname-ye Farabi (Farabi Film Quarterly), Ketabe Maah, Monthly Film, Kalemeh and Kelk.
He has made a number of documentaries and short films, as well as teaching film at Iran’s universities and film institutes. Daybreak (Rooz Bar Miaavad), his most recent short film, and Ta’zieh: Another Narration, his feature documentary about a traditional type of Iranian performance and passion play, have been screened at film festivals, art galleries, universities, and on television in Iran and Canada.
Mr. Jahed has also written book on cinema and theater. His forthcoming book is an in-depth interview with Ibrahim Golestan, the prominent Iranian filmmaker and writer and one of the forerunners of the Iranian New Wave.
Jahed is currently working with the BBC Persian radio/website and Radio Zamaneh in the Netherlands as a freelance journalist.
Filmography:
The Lark (Chakavak), 1988, short documentary
The Grass (Alafzar), 1990, short documentary
A Fault Circle (Dayereye Mayoob), long documentary
Coffee Cup Reading (Fale Ghahveh), 1998, short fiction
Daybreak (Rooz Bar Miaavad), 1999
Ta’zieh: Another Narration, 2000, long documentary
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Dear Friends of the Film Society:
Film Society is also offering the following services:
Film and Video Production
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DVD Authoring
Sound Sweetening
Audio and Video Clips for the Web
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please contact: 818-667-8846
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Film Society
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