Free NYC screening: Three by Sepideh Farsi at Metrograph (Nowruz Special)
passerby is partnering with Metrograph to pay tribute to filmmaker Sepideh Farsi with 3 screenings timed to the Nowruz holiday, celebrating the Persian New Year
Timed to the Nowruz Holiday, in partnership with Metrograph, we are thrilled to present the work of Sepideh Farsi, the inventive and exploratory Iranian artist-in-exile defying repression (stay tuned for our interview on Tuesday!)
Metrograph will be showing a series of three screenings by the filmmaker during the weekend of March 22nd, with special guests including actor and activist Sepideh Moafi and screenwriter (and passerby) Nicole Najafi. Specialty cocktails by SAG — inspired by aragh sagi, a raisin-distilled Iranian spirit — will also be available throughout the weekend at Metrograph’s lobby bar.
Farsi’s work embodies a deeply felt political consciousness, combined with vividly human emotional narratives. Her films encompass the forms of documentary, animation, and live-action film, all imbued with her inventive style and eclectic taste.
These screenings are free to passerby club members (paid subscribers). Seats are limited. Paid subscribers also receive a 40% discount on Metrograph memberships for a limited time — membership comes with discounts on tickets, purchases at the Metrograph store, and meals or drinks at the Metrograph Commissary. Paid subscribers can scroll down to RSVP and to access their discount.
TEHRAN WITHOUT PERMISSION (dir. Sepideh Farsi, 2009, 83 min, DCP)
Screening + Q&A moderated by Sepideh Moafi: Sunday, March 23rd, 2:30 pm
Facing strict restrictions placed on filming by the Iranian government but eager nevertheless to capture the tense atmosphere in the streets of Tehran in the months before the controversial 2009 elections, Farsi began shooting with her Nokia cameraphone in beauty salons, cafés, taxi cabs, and most anywhere else she could find subjects willing (and unusually eager) to express their deepest hopes and fears about what the future might hold for themselves and for their country. An intense and intimate document of a city and a people on the cusp of crisis, made with resourcefulness and no small amount of courage.
Watch the trailer here.
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