3rd IrFFNY presents a selection of acclaimed and award-winning films from one of the world's most vital and distinguished national cinemas. The festival aims to unite two strands of Iranian moviemaking – the classic art-house Iranian cinema beloved by cinephiles around the world, and new cutting-edge works that showcase the adventurousness and daring nature of younger Iranian directors.

Schedule

January 29, 2025

(Opening Night)

7:00 pm: The Old Bachelor

Writer & Director: Oktay Baraheni
Producers: Arsalan Baraheni, Babak Hamidian, Hanif Soroori
Cast: Leila Hatami, Hamed Behdad, Hassan Pourshirazi, Mohammad Valizadegan, Babak Hamidian, Fahimeh
Rahimnia, Reza Rouygari, Mohammad-Reza Davoudnejad, Vahid Ghazi Zahedi, Ali Rahimi.

Synopsis:
In an Iran weighed down by a struggling economy, two middle-aged brothers live with their bullying father. A man prone to rages and driven by chauvinism, the father's abusiveness found his second wife leaving him. Now he picks on his eldest son, while the younger sibling fantasizes about ways to kill his father. When the man rents out the flat above to a young woman, with intentions of marrying her, the woman's attraction to the older son slowly pushes this profoundly damaged family to breaking point.

Director's Bio:
Oktay Baraheni (born 1974) is an Iranian Film director and writer. He is a graduate of the Fine Arts York University Toronto, Canada with a degree in Cinema, His successful career includes several feature films, several short films and a documentary Khatab Be Parvaneha, which is a well-known Iranian poet and writer in relation to his father, Reza Baraheni, As well as him first feature film was The Pole Khaab, which was screened in the new film section of the Fajr Film Festival in 2015 And in 2016, its public release began, He also has a background in journalism.

Festivals & Awards:
- International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2024; Winner, Big Screen Award
- London Film Festival 2024; Winner Best Narrative Film
- Transilvania Int'l Film Festival 2024; Winner Best Actor
- Galway Film Fleadh2024; Winner Best Film, world Cinema Competition

US premiere - Winner Rotterdam FF 2024 + Q&A After

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January 30, 2025

7pm: My Favorite Cake

Writers & Directors: Behtash Sanaeeha, Maryam Moghadam
Cast: Lili Farhadpour, Esmaeel Mehrabi, Mansoore Ilkhani

Synopsis:
Mahin (70) lives alone in Tehran since her husband's death and her daughter's departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her lonely routine and revitalize her love life. But as Mahin opens herself up to new romance, what begins as an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unpredictable,
unforgettable evening.

Festivals & Awards:
– Berlin International Film Festival 2024; Winner FIPRESCI Prize Competition
– Berlin International Film Festival 2024; Winner Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Competition
– Calgary International Film Festival 2024; Winner Best International Feature International Narrative Competition
– Calgary International Film Festival 2024; Winner Audience Award International Narrative Feature

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9:15 pm: Atomic Heart

Iran, 2015, Fantasy/Drama, 93min.

Writer & Director: Ali Ahmadzadeh
Cast: Taraneh Alidoosti, Pegah Ahangarani, Mohammad Reza Golzar, Mehrdad Sedighian,

Synopsis:
On their way back from a wild party, Arineh and Nobahar cause a car accident. A mysterious stranger by the name of Toofan offers to cover the costs. This won't be the last time they'll cross his path over the course of the night. Cars form a popular setting in Iranian cinema. They move through the public sphere, yet their occupants remain among themselves. But what happens if a policeman suddenly gets into your vehicle, finds black market DVDs and forces you to admit, tipsily, that Argo is a film hostile to Iran?

Festivals & Awards:
-Berlin International Film Festival 2015; Nominee Best Film)
-Los Angeles Film Festival 2015; Nominee World Fiction Award)

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January 31, 2025

6:45 pm: Once Upon A Time, Cinema

Iran, 1992, Comedy/Drama, 92min [Restored Version]

Writer & Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Cast: Ezzatollah Entezami, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Mehdi Hashemi, Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz

Synopsis:
A silent-era cinematographer living in the early 20th Century finds himself mysteriously transported back to a pre-cinema time. Seized by guards and brought to the reigning Shah, the cinematographer introduces cinema to the leader who soon becomes entranced by the medium and enamoured with silent movie actor Golnar (Fatemah Motamed-Arya). Soon, the line between fantasy and reality becomes impossibly blurred.

Festivals & Awards:
– Karlovy vary Film Festival 1992; Best Film
– Karlovy vary Film Festival 1992; Best Director
– Seattle International Film Festival 1994.
– Los Angeles Film Festival 1994
– Locarno International Film Festival 1994

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9:30 pm: The Killer and the Savage

Iran, 2024, Crime/Drama, 2024, 118min. (Rated R- Strong Violence)

Director: Hamid Nematollah
Writers: Hamid Nematollah, Masoumeh Bayat
Cast: Leila Hatami, Amin Hayayee, Shahram Haghighatdoost, Setareh Eskandari

Synopsis:
Ziba is a woman who feels that she has never done anything meaningful for her daughter. One day, she accidentally gets mixed up in a crime. The fear of her daughter being dragged into this deadly scenario is more devastating for Ziba than the violence and torture inflicted on her by the criminals. But, how far can violence go?

Director's Bio:
Born in Tehran on October 22, 1967, Hamid Nematollah worked as an assistant director from 1993 until 1997. In 1996 he started writing for television and working on TV commercials. His series, WHITE ALARM, remains one of the most popular television events in recent Iranian history. His first feature, ‘Boutique', won best actress award for ‘Golshifteh Farahani' at the 2002 ‘Three Continents Festival' in Nantes, France.

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February 1, 2025

2:00 pm: Razor's Edge: The Legacy of Iranian Actresses - Click here for Tickets
4:45 pm: In the Arms of the Tree - Click here for Tickets
7:00 pm: Once Upon A Time, Abadan - Click here for Tickets
9:45 pm: The Actor - Click here for Tickets

February 2, 2025

2:30 pm: Facing The Rook - Click here for Tickets
4:30 pm: Iranian Shorts Program - Click here for Tickets
6:45 pm: Avalanche - Click here for Tickets
9:30 pm: Junks & Dolls - Click here for Tickets

February 3, 2025

7:00 pm: The Blue Vailed

Iran, Drama, 1995, 85min [Restored Version]

Writer and Director: Rakhshan Banietemad
Producers: Majid Modaresi, Fariborz Pourmand
Cast: Ezzatollah Entezami, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Golab Adineh, Afsar Asadi, Baran Kosari, Behnaz Jafari, Farhad Aslani,

Synopsis:

An elderly owner of a tomato farm and sauce factory, after his wife's death, falls in love with one of the workers of the factory endangering his relationship with his daughters and in-laws. While everybody in the big family persuades the old man to abandon the relationship with the poor girl, the old man makes his final choice of love.

Festivals & Awards:
– Locarno Int'l Film Festival 1995; Winner, Bronze Leopard
-Thessaloniki Film Festival 1995; Winner, FIPRESCI Prize (New Horizons Section)

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February 4, 2025

7:00 pm: A Hairy Tale

Iran, 2019, Fantasy/Comedy, 102min

Writer & Director: Homayoun Ghanizadeh
Producer: Ali Mosaffa
Cast: Saber Abar, Ali Nasirian, Babak Hamidian, Hadieh Tehrani, Reza Kiani

Synopsis:

Danesh works in a barbershop and dreams about becoming an actor. Manfered is an agent who would introduce Danesh to a famous director if he collects enough long hairs to be used as wigs

Director's Bio:

Homayoun Ghanizadeh: born on December 5, 1980, in Tehran, is a film and theatre director, playwright, screenwriter, and actor in Iranian theatre and cinema.Homayoun Ghanizadeh started his career in the field of theatre when he was 19 years old, founding the Mungu Art Group and staging many plays. Among his plays, Mississippi Dies Seated and Caligula were particularly well-received by theatre audiences. Caligula set the sales record in 1994,
followed by Mississippi Dies Seated, which became the record-holder for theatre sales in Iran in 1995. In 2018, Homayoun Ghanizadeh received the statue of Best Creativity and Brilliant Talent for his film A Hairy Tale from the 13th Cinema Critics and Writers Association of Iran. He presented his award to Pouya Bakhtiari.

Festivals & Awards:

– Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019
– Fribourg Int'l Film Festival 2020; Winner, Grand Prix
– Transilvania Int'l Film Festival 2020; Winner, Best Film
– Warsaw Int'l Film Festival 2019

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February 5, 2025

5:30 pm: Women in Iranian Cinema

7:00 pm: Universal Language

Canada, 2024, Drama, 89min.

Director: Matthew Rankin
Writers: Ilia Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati, Matthew Rankin
Producer: Sylvain Corbeil
Cast: Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Sobhan Javadi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Sokeymanlou, Danielle Fichaud, Matthew Rankin

Synopsis:

A-Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to get it out. Massoud leads a group of increasingly-confused tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his mother. Time, geography and personal identities crossfade, interweave and collide into a surreal comedy of disorientation.

B-In a reimagined Winnipeg that looks a lot like 1980s Iran – just with a few more turkeys and Kleenex factories – two young kids find a banknote, leading them on an odyssey that takes them out of childhood and into the unforgiving world of adults. A disillusioned teacher shows up late to a class, only to insult his students. And a filmmaker (director Matthew Rankin, playing himself) arrives back at his family home and discovers that another man has taken his place.

For those keeping score, these are indeed homages to Jafar Panahi’s The White Balloon (MIFF 1996 & 2006) and Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House? and Close-Up (MIFF 2003). These Iranian classics serve as inspirations for a unique undertaking by Rankin, whose debut feature, the fantastical biopic The Twentieth Century, won the FIPRESCI prize at Berlin and Best Canadian First Feature at Toronto. Calling Universal Language an “autobiographical hallucination” drawn from a formative obsession with Iranian cinema and a love–hate relationship with his hometown, Rankin spins his own My Winnipeg (MIFF 2008) by way of the meta-realist movies of Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf – though its still frames and sight gags owe just as much to the witty absurdities of Jacques Tati, Roy Andersson and Wes Anderson.

Festivals & Awards:

Canada’s Official Entry to the Oscars 2025 (Shortlisted Best International Feature Film Category)
– Cannes Film Festival 2024; Winner, Directors Audience Award.
– Toronto Int’l Film Festival 2024; Winner Best Canadian Discovery Award
– Hamburg Film Festival 2024; Winner 2024 Cinema Award.
– Melbourne Int’l Film Festival 2024; Winner, Best Film Bright Horizons Award
– National Board Review USA, Top 5 International Films

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February 6, 2025

7:00 pm: Cause of Death Unknown

Iran, 2023, Drama, 104min.

Writer & Director: Ali Zarnegar
Cast: Banipal Shoomoon, Alireza Sani Far, Neda Jebreili

Synopsis:

A van with seven passengers journeys through the barren Lut Desert when a grim situation unfolds: one of their fellow travelers has died. With no access to a medical professional to issue an official death certificate, emergency services refuse to send an ambulance. As darkness falls, the chance of locating a doctor becomes increasingly remote. Left with few options, the group debates driving to the nearest police patrol for assistance. But before they can act, they search the deceased’s belongings for identification or contact details, uncovering a startling discovery that intensifies their crisis.

Director's Bio:
Iranian poet, writer, and director Ali Zarnegar was born in Tehran in 1983. He earned a Master’s in Theatre as well as his degree in film directing from Tehran University of Art. Zarnegar started his career in both literature and film at the same time, becoming well-known in each. He produced seven outstanding short films between 2002 and 2015, with “Becoming" winning the prestigious Best Film and Best Screenplay prizes at the 27th Tehran International Short Film Festival. His debut movie, “Living with the Presence of a Wall," however, encountered adverse circumstances and had to be stopped after only seventeen days of filming since it was refused a screening license.

For “Wednesday, May 9," Zarnegar was nominated for the Best Screenplay prize at the 33rd Fajr International Film Festival in 2014. With awards from the Special Jury Award at the Berkshire International Film Festival, the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize at the Bratislava International Film Festival, this movie went on to enjoy tremendous success.

Festivals & Awards:
-Shanghai International Film Festival 2023; Nominee 2023, Best Director
-Shanghai International Film Festival; Nominee 2023 , Best Film

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Date:
January 29 - February 6, 2025

Location:
IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue
New York, NY 10014

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