Iman Tavakoli

Terrestrial Verses

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse. Progressing along a rough timeline from birth to death, each story is shot in a static camera angle as a single petitioner negotiates with an authority figure hovering just outside of frame, who is practiced in the language of doublespeak.

Atabai

Atabai lives with his father and his niece in the village of Pirkandi (Khoi). He was an architecture student at Tehran University of Fine Arts many years ago and left school a year after graduating because of the emotional problems caused by his unexpected love for his colleague....

Dayan

Set a day after the Syrian war began, Dayan paints a portrait of the thousands of refugees unable to return to their families once borders were established by terrorist groups. Seiban, an aging Syrian father living in exile with his family, has to make a choice: part with his special-needs children in order to escape, or keep them close and put the family's lives at the mercy of the military. As he struggles to decide, the world around his family crumbles under the weight of war, leaving little hope for their survival.