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And, Towards Happy Alleys
Iran’s Cinema, Poetry, and the Fight for Freedom
Speakers
75 mins | Persian, English | 2023 | India, Iran
Fascinated by Iran’s film culture and the poetic works of the feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad, Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh sets out in search of the protagonists of Iranian cinema. Her interactions over six years with filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Shirvani and human rights activist Nasrin Sotudeh, among others, depict the precarious situation in which critics of the regime find themselves, including the constant threat of imprisonment and being banned from practicing their profession. With a keen eye for unusual situations, she poetically captures the effect of the Islamic Republic’s omnipresent censorship on the daily lives of Iranian women whose uncompromising struggle has put them at the forefront of the protests that are currently rocking the country.
And, Towards Happy Alleys is a passionate declaration of love for the cinema and poetry of Iran which also provides a frank view of daily life, and bears witness to a fearless generation raising its voice and implacably demanding its civil liberties.
Inspired by Iranian cinema and the poetry of Forough Farrokhzad, a young director from India journeys to Tehran to witness how resistance becomes a daily act of survival in Iranian society. Despite stringent censorship of the Islamic Regime, she collects a series of eloquent and candid interviews with filmmaker Jafar Panahi, activists and Iranian women. Over six years, these conversations with the camera capture the simmering anxieties, fears, hopes and dreams of a nation on the brink of revolution.
The screening will be followed by Q&A with the audience.
In collaboration with:
Speakers
Sreemoyee Singh
Sreemoyee Singh completed her PhD on “The Exiled Filmmaker in Post-Revolution Iran” from the department of Film Studies in Jadavpur University, Kolkata in Feb 2022. In 2015, she travelled to Iran for the first time inspired by masters of Iranian cinema like Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who remain an inspiration. This journey led to the filming of her first feature length documentary And, Towards Happy Alleys (Be Kucheye Khoshbakht). For this, Sreemoyee learnt Persian from Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute and Center for Persian Studies in Tehran. Her in-depth research about the cinema of Iran and her knowledge of Persian gave her unique access to Iranian filmmakers, artists, activists, and women who are otherwise wary of interaction with the media outside. Sreemoyee also worked as Assistant Professor of Film Studies at St. Joseph’s University, Bangalore and a Guest Lecturer at New York University, Abu Dhabi (NYUAD).
Sunanda Bhat
Sunanda is a Bangalore based filmmaker. Her interest in textures that emerge as ‘ordinary’ peoples’ lives intersect with layers of landscape, continue to shape her work. Her films have screened at IDFA, Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris, Planet in Focus Film Festival, Toronto, International Film Festival of India among several others. She was an artist-in-residence at the Kochi Muziris Biennale and as is part of the collective Vikalp Bengaluru, committed to the screening of non-fiction cinema in the city.
