The Young Iranian filmmaker Bahman Kiarostami takes us on a tour through the city of Tehran in search of two famous Iranian sculptures, one built before and one after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Kiarostami discovers the first, one of the earliest modern sculptures in Iran, badly damaged in the cellar of the City Theatre. The other, a monument to the revolution, is already scheduled for demolition to make way for a new underground station. With irony and wit, Kiarostami questions the significance of these two public works. |
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Punctuated with numerous delightful asides, the film evolves into a fascinating journey that moves from popular artificial trees with fairy lights to a factory that produces huge plastic cactuses, providing a broad overview of art in public and ‘non-public’ space. A rare look at the inner workings of Iranian cultural and art institutions, Statues of Tehran is an uncompromising film essay against a contemporary Tehran in the grip of ideology and dismissive of its own history, and a plea for the importance of Iranian art. |
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Mojasamehay-e Tehran
Iran
2008
60 min. / HD
Language: Persian
Subtitles: English
www.bahmankiarostami.com
Crew
Cinematography: Bahman Kiarostami
Sound: Babak Salek
Editing: Bahman Kiarostami
Production: Nasser Onsori
Director
Bahman Kiarostami, was born in Tehran in 1978 and started his work as an assistant director in 1996. He has worked as a cinematographer, film editor and film producer. His films have focused on art, music and the political power of faith inside contemporary Iranian culture, Bahman has explored the complex layers of religious significance in the Iranian controversial society. |