Friday 26.04–Saturday 27.04.2024
Showing at Cinemateket, USF Verftet
Filmfest 3,14 is a celebration of new Iranian film, presenting a two-day program at Cinemateket i Bergen. We will show art film, short film and feature film, alongside a rich discursive program. At Filmfest 3,14 you will get the opportunity to watch films by internationally renowned directors alongside up-and coming filmmakers presenting for the first time in Norway.
Prices
Festival pass: 250kr
Single tickets: 75 kr
The festival pass includes free access to the full two-day festival program as well as discounts as Kippers Bar & Kafe. NB! The festival pass does not automatically reserve seats for each event. When buying the festival pass, you will receive an individual code which must be used to book seats at the events you wish to attend.
PROGRAM
Friday 26. April, 18.00
Opening event: short film screenings and talk with Sara Rajaei, Siavash Kheirkhah,
Alireza Bayat and Abirami Logendran
Time: Friday 26. April, 18.00
Place: Cinemateket i Bergen, US
We start off the festival with a screening of five short films, followed by a panel discussion with Iranian artists/filmmakers Sara Rajaei, Siavash Kheirkhah, and Alireza Bayat. The talk will focus on their own artistic work and on the critical potential of short films in an Iranian/Middle Eastern context. Blurring the boundaries between film and other visual arts, a common thread in the films showed this evenening is a sense of liminality: exploring physical, emotional and metaphorical in-between spaces that can also be read as allegorical of the filmmaker’s own identities as Iranians working in a Western cultural context. Is there a special communicative potential in the hybrid medium of short film?
The talk is moderated by artist and film critic Abirami Logendran and will be held in English.
Event program
18.00: Welcome and introduction by festival curator Tuva Mossin
18.05: Film screenings
- Mohammad Sadegh Golchin Arefi, The Labour (2023)
- Sara Rajaei, A composition in blue, red & other colors (2017)
- Siavash Kheirkhah, Diplopia (2021)
- Maryam Tafakory, Irani Bag (2020)
- Sara Rajaei, Yet another leap year (2022)
20.15: Panel discussion with Sara Rajaei, Siavash Kheirkhah, and Alireza Bayat, moderated by Abirami Logendran
About the panelists
Alireza Bayat is a freelance curator based in Manitoba, Canada. He's an alumnus of the Master of Arts in Curatorial Practices stream at the University of Winnipeg where he is currently a senior research assistant. He also has a Master's degree from Azad University-Tehran in Art Studies, where he completed a thesis on the notions of gender and sexuality in 19th-century Iranian written and visual texts (2018). His research interests are Intersectional curating, conjunctural analysis, socio-political activism, and study of power dynamics. He was selected for a curatorial exchange program between Iran and Norway which led to the co-curation of a joint exhibition, “Shadows of Garden” (2016-2017) at Kunsthall 3,14. He has also worked as an art advisor in multiple artistic and commercial institutions in Tehran, Iran. He is the curator of the exhibition Can the Afghan Speak? currently on show at Kunsthall 3,14.
Siavash Kheirkhah is based in Bergen and works with photography, film and video. He investigates states of being through the triangle of remembrance, vision and memory as his main focuses. He especially interested in the notion of what he calls ‘in-betweenity’, which refers to an intricate space including the viewer's perception and the narrative. Distance is a recurring theme in Kheirkhah’s work, as he explores different states of being in distance, and the distance itself. He aims to make experiences that evoke a sense of ambiguity, blurring the boundaries between dreamlike illusions and reality. He wants to immerse the audience in an experience where they feel like being lost, not in confusion, but in a state of bewilderment.
Abirami Logendran is an artist, curator, and writer based in Oslo. She has degrees in mathematics, history and screen cultures, as well as graphic design and fine arts. She is a film curator at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, and a film critic for the daily newspaper Klassekampen. She writes for magazines such as Montages, Vinduet and Wuxia and is the current editor of the Norwegian Art Yearbook.
Sara Rajaei is an Iranian/Dutch video artist and filmmaker based in The Netherlands. In her work, she studies the notion of time by reflecting on the absence of image, memory psychology, oral history, narrative techniques, and physical/psychological space. Her artistic oeuvre consists of short films and video installations, which remain between storytelling and imagery. After she graduated from the Royal Academy of Art The Hague in 2002, Rajaei attended a 2-year residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten Amsterdam. In 2009, she was awarded Prix de Rome basic prize. Her work has been exhibited and screened at various art venues and festivals around the world, including de Appel Arts Center, Stroom Den Haag, Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Rencontres Internationales Paris Berlin Madrid, Art Brussels, Kunsthall 3,14, Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art Rijeka/Croatia, Galerie Nouvelles Images, Tent Rotterdam, and many more.
Friday 26. April, 21.30
Jafar Panahi, No Bears/Ingen Bjørner (2022)
Time: Friday 26. April, 21.30
Place: Cinemateket i Bergen, USF
Language: Persian, Azerbaijani, Turkish
Subtitles: English
Duration: 1h 47 min
No Bears is a drama written, directed and produced by Jafar Panahi. The film was shot secretly in Iran and stars Panahi as a fictionalized version of himself, along with Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobasri, Bakhtiar Panjei and Mina Kavani. Prohibited by the government from making films and from leaving Iran, because of his politically critical movies, Panahi has rented a room at the village of Jaban, near Turkey's border, where he is remotely directing a docudrama about an Iranian couple, Bakhtiar and Zara, who are attempting to secure fake passports so they can flee the country after years of government abuse. While directing the movie, Panahi also get’s caught up in a village drama regarding photos that he may or may not have taken of a local bride to be.
No Bears premiered at the 79th Venice Film Festival in competition for the Golden Lion, without the presence of the director, who had been arrested and sentenced to 6 years prison in Iran, prior to the film's release. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in September 2022, and has received generally positive reviews from critics.
Saturday 27. April, 13.00
Sepideh Farsi, The Siren (2023)
Time: Saturday 27. April, 13.00
Place: Cinemateket i Bergen, USF
Language: Farsi
Subtitles: English
Duration: 1h 40 min
The Siren is an animated drama by French-Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi. The powerful film depicts 14-year-old Omid’s struggle to escape the besieged city of Abadan in Iran following the outbreak of the Iran-Iraqi war (1980–1988). While the young boy is playing soccer with his friends, they witness a missile attack on a nearby oil refinery. The attack by the Iraqi army throws the city into complete chaos, turning Omid's life upside down. While his mother and siblings flee, his older brother disappears to join other fighters at the front. Omid, who stays behind, is determined to find his brother. Along the way, he meets different people who have in common that they live on the fringes of society. It becomes clear to Omid that he must escape his hometown, and together with his new friends, he embarks on an escape attempt in an abandoned ship.With a detailed narrative style and a touch of adventure, The Siren is a gripping tale of how people come together in a war-torn city.
About the filmmaker
Sepideh Farsi is an Iranian-born director based in Paris. Farsi has made several short films and documentaries, as well as two feature films. She has received several awards for her films, including the Grand Prix at the Festival International de Cinéma de Marseille for her latest documentary 7 Veils (2017). The Siren is her first animated film.
Saturday 27. April, 15.00
Breaking Boundaries: short films by emerging Iranian female video artists
Time: Saturday 27. April, 15.00
Place: Cinemateket i Bergen, USF
Duration: 1h 20 min
Artists: Neshat Arayesh, Sima Bagherzadeh, Roja Behravesh, Sanaz Khodadad, Sanaz Sedighy, Hamideh Sobhani, Daayanna Abdolali Zadeh
Kunsthall 3,14 is proud to present a unique selection of experimental short films curated by Asieh Salimian and Shahram Entekhabi (Factory TT), with whom we have collaborated before both in Bergen and in Teheran. The full title of the program is Nothing but ... Breaking Boundaries: A Bold Exploration of Perspectives and Status Quo by Emerging Iranian Female Video Artists. As the name suggests, the selection presents works by a diverse group of young, up-and-coming female video artists from Iran, each with their own unique artistic voice and perspective.
In recent years, the feminist movement has gained momentum in Iran, where the Woman, Life, Freedom (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi) movement emerged in 2022 in response to systematic gender discrimination and inequality. Iranian female artists have emerged as pioneers within this movement, using artistic expressions to defy societal norms and advocate for gender equality. Nothing but … responds to the current situation by highlighting the influential legacies of feminism in video art. Through visually compelling narratives, the films challenge established norms and amplify the voices of Iranian women, all of whom are living and working in Iran. Seen as a whole, the screening examines feminist positions as a socio-political movement fighting against gender discrimination and inequality, and offering the Norwegian audience a unique insight into the artistic positions of young Iranian women.
Throughout the festival weekend there will be a simultaneous pop-up screening of short films that are also part of Nothing But … in Kunsthall 3,14’s gallery space at Vågsallmenningen during opening hours (Fri-Sun 12-17).
Films
- Neshat Arayesh, Umbrella (2023 )
- Sima Bagherzadeh, Storyboard (2020)
- Roja Behravesh, Time Changes (2019)
- Sanaz Khodadad,This is not a landscape (2019)
- Sanaz Sedighy, Shahroud, 29Esfand Ave. No.23 (2022)
- Hamideh Sobhani, Zastar (2023)
- Daayanna Abdolali Zadeh, An Unsung Anthema (2022)
Factory TT is a Berlin/Teheran-based art education platform founded in 2015 to challenge gaps and blind spots in the global presentation and reception of non-Western art, and to promote transculturality, inclusivity, and diversity in the art world. With over 23 projects organized in Iran and Europe, Factory TT showcases the diverse artistic practices and perspectives of artists from different cultural backgrounds, overcoming geographical boundaries. The organization also hosts art festivals on important themes such as ecology and sustainability, promoting artistic interventions that raise awareness and advocate for sustainable practices. Kunsthall 3,14 and Factory TT have a longstanding relationship, having worked together both in Bergen and in Teheran.
Pop-up screenings of Nothing But... at Kunsthall 3,14 throughout the festival weekend
Time: Friday–Sunday 26–28 April, 12.00–17.00
Place: Kunsthall 3,14
Artists: Elham Azizi Ghasem Abady, Anahita Aghataher, Mozhgan Bavaki, Mona Rahnemay Helali, Hanieh Kashani, and Hediyeh Sadeghi
As part of Filmfest 3,14, a pop-up screening of short films from the selection Nothing But ... is presented throughout the weekend at the entrance hall of Kunsthall 3,14 at Vågsallmenningen. These films are not the same as shown at Cinemateket (see list of artist above), so we warmly recommend you to visit Kunsthall 3,14 as well during the weekend. This event is free!
The films presented at Kunsthall 3,14:
Anahita Aghataher (Video: Shadow, 2020)
Elham Azizi Ghasem Abady (Video: I am a strange creature, 2022)
Mozhgan Bavaki (Video: Strict Constraint, 2022)
Hanieh Kashani (Video: The Sufficient Framework, 2020)
Mona Rahnama Helali (Video: Your Advertisement Here, 2022)
Hediyeh Sadeghi (Video: The Weight of Now, 2023)
Saturday 27. April, 17.30
Shirin Neshat, Land of Dreams (2021)
w/introduction by Abirami Logendran
Time: Saturday 27. April, 17.30
Place: Cinemateket i Bergen, USF
Language: English
Duration: 2h incl. introduction
While Shirin Neshat’s early works became world famous as a critical voice against the sociopolitical impacts of Islamic law on women in Iran and mostly reflected on her Iranian heritage alone, Land of Dreams, might be most representative of her status as an American immigrant: a position the renowned artist has long held but never quite explored. The feature film presented at Filmfest 3,14 is part of a group of works collectively titled Land of Dreams (2019–). In the film, Neshat turns her lens towards what it is to live in the US as someone who is not white. Where the idea of those titular dreams (of success, money, a better life) are sold to the many, but granted to few.
Set in small-town New Mexico, Land of Dreams follows the Iranian-American Simin, who is a ‘dream catcher’ working the United States Census Bureau which has gone beyond data collection and now explores the dreams of citizens for unknown intentions. She travels to different households to collect the most recent dreams of their occupants. When she likes a dream, Simin asks if she can take the subject’s portrait. She then goes back to a motel room, dresses up as the person, switches on a webcam and recounts the dream in Farsi to an anonymous audience. Along her journey, Simin is met with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, finding herself straddling two different identities, never quite accepted by either her Iranian audience or by the country in which she was raised. Playful and poignant, the film acknowledges the greatness of the American experiment while offering a warning beacon for what could come.
The film will be introduced by artist and film critic Abirami Logendran, who has recently worked with Shirin Neshat as film curator for Kunstnernes hus in Oslo.
About the filmmaker
Shirin Neshat is an internationally acclaimed Iranian-born artist and filmmaker living in New York. Neshat works and continues to experiment with the mediums of photography, video and film, which she imbues with highly poetic and politically charged images and narratives that question issues of power, religion, race, gender and the relationship between the past and present, East and West, individual and collective through the lens of her personal experiences as an Iranian woman living in exile. In addition to working in a range of other media, Neshat has directed three feature-length films, amongst which Land of Dreams is the most recent. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2021).
Neshat has held numerous solo exhibitions at museums internationally including the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; The Broad, Los Angeles; Museo Correr, Venice, Italy; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C. and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Neshat was awarded the Golden Lion Award, the First International Prize at the 48th Biennale di Venezia (1999), the Hiroshima Freedom Prize (2005), the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2006) and in 2017, she received the prestigious Praemium Imperiale Award in Tokyo.
Saturday 27. April, 20.00
Noora Niasari, Shayda (2023)
Time: Saturday 27. April, 20.00
Place: Cinemateket i Bergen, USF
Language: English, Persian
Subtitles: English
Duration: 1h 57 min
Shayda follows an Iranian immigrant woman in Melbourne, Australia. She is raising her six-year old daughter Mona while seeking legal help to divorce her abusive husband Hossein while seeking refuge in a women’s shelter. The story takes place in the 1990’s during the two weeks of Iranian New Year (Nowrooz) which is celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth. When a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he re-enters their life, stoking Shayda’s fear that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran. Aided by the strong community of women at the women’s shelter, they seek their freedom in this new world of possibilities, only to find themselves facing the same violence they have tried so hard to escape.
Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s powerful debut feature is a beautifully crafted, poetic portrayal of courage and compassion, anchored by a heart-rending performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi (2022 Cannes’ best actress award winner for Holy Spider). Ebrahimi captures the vulnerability and confliction, but also the radiant soul of an Iranian woman who boldly claims her human rights: to divorce her husband, keep her child, and dress as she chooses. The film is a personal meta-fiction based on Niasari’s own childhood, marked by a fraught parental dynamic and endless uncertainty, but also fierce, unshakeable motherly love.
Filmfest 3,14 is supported by Fritt Ord, the Arts Council Norway, and the City of Bergen