Forough Farrokhzad at Golestan Film Studio, 1961-65

Film

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Khaneh Siah Ast (The House Is Black). 1962. Iran. Directed by Forugh Farrokhzad. Courtesy Ehsan Khoshbakht/Janus Films

This program of shorts from the Golestan Film Studio traces the fascinating collaboration between one of Iran’s greatest filmmakers, Ebrahim Golestan, and one of its greatest poets, Forough Farrokhzad. Golestan’s A Fire, which documents the extinguishing of a torrential fire in an oil well, combines Farrokhzad’s rhythmic editing with Golestan’s symbolism. Courtship, Golestan’s sketch for a four-episode TV documentary about amatory rites, is the only film in which Farrokhzad appears as an actor. Crown Jewels is Golestan’s most visually dazzling documentary, ostensibly a showcase for the collection of precious jewels kept in the treasury of the Central Bank of Iran, but in fact a bold attack on the treachery of the Persian kings. The House Is Black, set in a leper colony in northwest Iran, was the only film directed by Farrokhzad before her premature death at the age of 32, and it is now considered one of the greatest documentaries ever made.

Ganjine-haye Gohar (Crown Jewels of Iran). 1965. Iran. Written and directed by Ebrahim Golestan. In Persian; English subtitles. 15 min.
Yek Atash (A Fire). 1961. Iran. Written and directed by Ebrahim Golestan. In Persian; English subtitles. 24 min.
Courtship. 1961. Iran. Written and directed by Ebrahim Golestan. In English. 10 min.
Khaneh Siah Ast (The House Is Black). 1962. Iran. Written and directed by Forough Farrokhzad. In Persian; English subtitles. 20 min.

DCPs courtesy Cineteca di Bologna

Program 69 min.

This film accompanies Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979.

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