Shahid
dir. Narges Kalhor / 2024, Germany, 84' / Polish premiere
8.09.24
16:00
Kinoteka, plac Defilad, Warszawa, Polska
Director: Narges Kalhor
Screenplay: Narges Kalhor, Aydin Alinejad
Cinematography: Felix Pflieger
Editing: Frank Müller, Narges Kalhor
Sound: Jesus Casquete, Philip Hutter
Music: Marja Burchard
Producer(s): Michael Kalb
Production: Michael Kalb Filmproduktion
World sales: Filmotor
Language: niemiecki, farsi, angielski
Website: https://filmotor.com/shahid/
SYNOPIS
Partners:
Director Narges Shahid Kalhor no longer wants to be called “Shahid” (martyr) as her surname and casts an actress as herself, who is supposed to set about changing the family name. All of a sudden, her bizarre great-grandfather appears. A man who was declared a martyr in Iran after his heroic death a hundred years ago and thus bequeathed to his descendants the honorific “Shahid”. He seeks to prevent his great-granddaughter from going through with her plan.
The temporal layers blend into each other and a nerve-racking quarrel arises between the director and her actress. While the format of the film shifts between reality, fiction, theatre and musical, everyone’s plans come to nought: The director founders on the obstacles of bureaucracy, the actress on the director’s demands, the great-grandfather on the descendant’s stubborn will, and finally the film itself on its own premise. In the process, the film questions all kinds of radical ideologies—while not taking itself all too seriously either.
“Shahid” is a personal film about the balancing act between coming to terms with the past, with the present, and with one’s own self.
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Berlinale (Caligari Film Award, CICAE Arthouse Cinema Award), Visions du Réel, DOK.fest München, Lichter Filmfest, Altre Rive Palermo, Karawan Film Festival Rome, Sevil International Women's Documentary Film Festival, Soundtrack Film Festival
NARGES KALHOR
Born and raised in Tehran in 1984. After graduating from high school in 2001, she began studying feature film directing at the Tehran Film Academy where she was mentored by Abbas Kiarostami. In 2007, she continued her studies in visual communication at the Kamalolmolk University. At the same time, she worked as a film editor at the advertising film agency ARASB in Tehran and shot five short films. In 2009, Narges Kalhor participated in the Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival (NIHRFF) with her short film “Die Egge”. Her application for political asylum attracted international attention due to her being the daughter of the highest-ranking cultural advisor to the then Iranian President Ahmadinehjad. She has since been granted asylum in Germany, where she studied at the University of Television and Film in Munich. Her second film as co-director at the film school, “Shoot Me”, was nominated for the German Short Film Award. In 2019, her graduation film “In the Name of Scheherazade” celebrated its world premiere at Visions du Réel and won the Goethe Institut Award for Best Documentary at the DOK Leipzig. The film screened at several international festivals and received a Swiss cinema release. It was also shown at the Berlinale Forum section in 2021. Her most recent short film “Sensitive Content” also celebrated its world premiere at Visions du Réel, won the Young Talent Award at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival, and was shown at numerous renowned festivals worldwide.
GALLERY
