Experience The World through The International Art of Cinema
SUNDAY DECEMBER 16, 2007, at 6:30 PM
SHORT FILMS ON IRAN
Film Society in association with IFVC and Ziba foundation presents
winners of the first New York International Short Film Festival:
Independent Films on Iran
SPECIAL GUEST:
Bahman Maghsoudlou:
Producer and Director of the Festival
Gold Prize (Trophy, Diploma and $3000.00): The Season of Soil (D: Shahrokh Babhrololumi)
In a remote region of Iran, a family composed of a father, mother and two children live and toil. The man of the house, after many years of hardship as a brick baker, constantly suffocated by the cloud of dust that surrounds his kiln, falls ill with asthma. As his relentless cough prevents him from continuing to bake bricks, it falls on his children to maintain the fire of the kiln and the legacy of hard work set forth by their parents.
Best Fiction (Trophy, Diploma and $2000.00): Just Waiting (D: Hamy Ramezan)
It is Yugoslavia in 1990, and a refugee boy and his father are desperate to be selected by the UN for deportation,which will remove them from thePadinska Skela Detention Centre for immigrants and criminals. Set amongst thebackdrop of the football World Cup, young boy Amir discovers the dark world of a refugee camp.
Best Documentary (Trophy, Diploma and $2000.00): Underneath My Father’s House (D: Naser Zeraati)
In the midst of the suppression and horror that marked the early days of the ‘80s in Iran, books, magazines, newspapers, notebooks and other handwritten materials were buried under the soil for fear of prosecution. After twenty years, they were unearthed to see what toll their time underground had taken.
Special Jury Prize (split decision): Fish Talking (D: Hassan Solhjou)($1000.00 from PCHA);
A film 
about the innocent days of childhood. 9-10-year-old Simon’s parents are working, so he has to stay at home with a babysitter. The babysitter is a young woman, aged 20-23, who is kind and beautiful. The girl and boy have lots of time to spend together, so they try to establish a relationship and have a fun. But things are getting complicated
What If Spring Does Not Come? (D: Alireza Darvish)($1000.00 from IFVC)
t is the nature of life that sometimes that which is possible for all becomes impossible for one. What IfSpring Does Not Come? is a woman’s voyage of discovery of herself, her dreams, and her proper place among these impossibilities. It is a poetic appreciation of women’s efforts and a tribute to their supreme place in life.
ZIBA Prize (Trophy and $1000.00): Bistoon & Its Secrets (D: Katayoun Afrooz)
In the western part of glorious Persia, there is a historical mountain called Bistoon. Some historical monuments from the ancient Persian civilization can be found there. This mountain has an astonishing carving called the ‘Daruis’ Inscriptions.’ This inscription is one of the most important documents of the ancient world.
Smoqing 10 min. Directed by: Daryoush Shokof
A young wom
an is attempting to break her horrible addiction to cigarettes. As the excruciating hours pass, she faces thedemons of addiction: screaming, depression, helplessness, crying for help, and especially itching. Does she have enough bandages to cover all the marks caused by scratching her body?
Persian Tree 18 min. Directed by: Hassan Naghashi
The history of Iran, as narrated by a five thousand-year-old cypress tree in Yazd.
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