Sepideh Farsi (Persian: سپیده فارسی; born 1965) is an Iranian film director.

Sepideh Farsi
سپیده فارسی
Born
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
OccupationFilm director
AwardsFIPRESCI award
Cinéma du Réel
Traces de Vie award (2001)

Early years

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Farsi left Iran in 1984 and went to Paris to study mathematics. However, eventually she was drawn to the visual arts and initially experimented in photography before making her first short films. A main theme of her works is identity. She can not return to Iran since 2009 due to her films and her activism against the iranian regime. To this day, all of Farsi's films have been banned in Iran by the regime. [1]

Awards and recognition

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Farsi was a Member of the Jury of the Locarno International Film Festival in Best First Feature in 2009. She won the FIPRESCI Prize (2002), Cinéma du Réel and Traces de Vie prize (2001) for "Homi D. Sethna, filmmaker" and Best documentary prize in Festival dei Popoli (2007) for "HARAT".

Recent news

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One of her latest films is called Tehran Bedun-e Mojavvez (Tehran Without Permission). The 83-minute documentary shows life in Iran's crowded capital city of Tehran, facing international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions and experiencing civil unrest. It was shot entirely with a Nokia camera phone because of the government restrictions over shooting a film. The film shows various aspects of city life including following women at the hairdressers talking of the latest fads, young men speaking of drugs, prostitution and other societal problems, and the Iranian rapperHichkas”. The dialogue is in Persian with English and Arabic subtitles.[2] In December 2009, Tehran Without Permission was shown at the Dubai International Film Festival.[3]

In February 2023, Farsi's first animated feature, The Siren (La Sirène), premiered as the opening film of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival's Panorama section.[4] The film, following a boy in the port of Abadan in 1980 during the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, won Best Animated Film at the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in the Gold Coast, Australia, in November 2023.[5]

In March 2024, she was the member of the Fiction Competition Jury at the 22d International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights.[6]

Filmography

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  1. La Sirène / The Siren (2023)
  2. Red Rose (2014)
  3. Cloudy Greece (2013)
  4. Zir-e āb / The house under the water (2010)
  5. Tehrān bedun-e mojavvez / Tehran without permission (2009)
  6. If it were Icarus (2008)
  7. Harāt (2007)
  8. Negāh / The Gaze (2006)
  9. Khāb-e khāk / Dreams of Dust (2003)
  10. Safar-e Mariam / The journey of Maryam (2002)
  11. Mardān-e ātash / Men of Fire (2001)
  12. Homi D. Sethna, filmmaker (2000)
  13. Donyā khāne-ye man ast / The world is my home (1999)
  14. Khab-e āb / Water dreams (1997)
  15. Bād-e shomāl / Northwind (1993)

References

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  1. ^ http://www.frauenfilmfestival.eu/index.php?main=archive&second=movie_search&detail=25053&language=en_EN International Women's Film Festival, Dortmund/Cologne Germany
  2. ^ reuters.com[dead link] Reuters, Cameria phone documentary offers slice of Iran, Dec 16 2009
  3. ^ http://www.dubaifilmfest.com/en/films-explorer/?id=4771&filmname=TEHRAN%20BEDOUNE%20MOJAVEZ%20%28TEHRAN%20WITHOUT%20PERMISSION%29 Dubai Film Festival website
  4. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (2023-02-16). "'The Siren' Director Sepideh Farsi on Iran, Politics and Why She Wants Her Berlin Festival Film Pirated". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  5. ^ Frater, Patrick (2023-11-03). "'Perfect Days' Wins Best Film at Asia Pacific Screen Awards as Japan, Korea, Kazakh Titles Dominate". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  6. ^ Economou, Vassilic (2024-03-18). "The 22nd FIFDH announces its award winners". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
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