Directed by Nader T. Homayoun
A man holds a sickly child in his arms, begging for money from passersby with a tale of how his wife has recently died and he desperately needs help. We soon learn the man is Ibrahim, a recent arrival in the big city, and that the child isn’t really his—the boy’s actually rented from a local gang-lord to make Ibrahim a more effective beggar. Welcome to Tehroun, as Iranians call their capital city.
Nader Homayoun’s debut feature presents a searing portrait of the city’s hidden, seamier side, a world of child trafficking, smuggling of just about anything, and assorted other criminal activities. A sensation in the Critics’ Week at last year’s Venice Film Festival, where it won the audience award, Tehroun marks a new chapter in the fascinating evolution of Iranian cinema.
2009. Iran/France. 95 min.
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Sat Mar 27: 8:00 (FSLC)
Sun Mar 28: 7:00 (MoMA)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Born in Paris in 1968, Nader T. Homayoun worked in Iran as a journalist and film critic. In 1997 he graduated from the directing program at La Fémis in Paris, and started making shorts and documentaries. His short film C’est pour bientôt (2000) was selected for the Venice Film Festival. In 2005 he directed the documentary Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution, which won awards at several international film festivals. Tehroun, his feature-length debut, was awarded at the Critics’ Week at La Mostra de Venise 2009 and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Festival Premiers Plans in Angers.
