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TERRESTRIAL VERSES (AYEH HAYE ZAMINI) World Cinema

Description

In this boldly galvanizing film, co-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami confront the oppression and conformity of the Iranian government via a tapestry of vignettes. Throughout progressively frustrating situations, we witness how the people of Iran are restricted in their freedoms of choice and expression in the most innocuous of situations, the absurdity of which increases with each segment. Those in control are deftly positioned offscreen, and those without it are confined to the frame in forced symmetry. With wry humor, Asgari and Khatami perfectly center (literally and figuratively) the constraints average Iranians face daily, as well as, paradoxically, the pains of making an acceptable film by government standards. With a startling final act, the filmmakers imagine a radically new Tehran that breaks free from the old regime. –Julia Kipnis

Bios

Ali Asgari is a prominent Iranian filmmaker with more than 200 awards to his name. Asgari’s films focus on the precarious lives of individuals living on the margins of society in his native country, Iran.

Alireza Khatami is an award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker based in Canada. Born into the indigenous Khamse tribe in Iran, he is influenced by his heritage’s rich storytelling traditions. His films poignantly investigate the interconnection of memory, trauma and power dynamics, often through a philosophical lens and with a dark sense of humor.