The theme of earth unites this trio of documentaries by Ebrahim Golestan. Wave, Coral and Rock chronicles the laying of oil pipelines in the south of Iran, touching on themes such as the “patient process of nature” and the “toil and intellect of man,” before culminating in a highly political statement about the people of Iran having no share of the oil wealth. The Hills of Marlik, about a 3,000-year-old site in the north of Iran simultaneously excavated by archaeologists and fertilized by farmers, limns the intersection of human life, art, and death. The banned and unseen Harvest and Seed is a sardonic look at the conditions of a poverty-stricken Iranian village after the so-called agrarian reforms of the early 1960s, which amounted to a corrupt land grab rather than an equitable redistribution of wealth.
Moj o Marjan o Khara (Wave, Coral & Rock). 1961. Iran. Written and directed by Ebrahim Golestan. US premiere. In English. 40 min.
Tappe-haye Marlik (The Hills of Marlik). 1963. Iran. Written and directed by Ebrahim Golestan. In Persian; English subtitles. 15 min.
Kharman o Bazr (Harvest and Seed). 1966. Iran. Written and directed by Ebrahim Golestan. US premiere. In Persian; English subtitles. 30 min.
DCPs courtesy Cineteca di Bologna
Program 85 min.