9. – 30. June on arsenal 3.
In a programme with OCTAVIA'S VISIONS.
“Just let him know you have a new idea, something about your homeland, something political,” is the advice offered by a friend to filmmaker Narges Kalhor, who is trying to complete her graduation film. Her despair about the project is due to the input of the white male commissioning editor whose comments in voiceover keep interrupting the film. As he puts it, he would like the film to be closer to the audience’s usual “viewing habits”, demanding that “stories from the homeland” be included here and there, as well as images of refugees or “something not so complicated”. The resulting film is many films in one, with the viewers becoming the witnesses of the editorial process along the way. Narrating, persuading and convincing are central motifs here. With a joyful sense of anarchy and plenty of humour, Kalhor combines a range of different stories to create a mockumentary, which doesn’t ultimately take the editor’s comments so very seriously after all: there is space for the story of a queer Syrian asylum-seeker, as well as for that of a female brewer from Iran, for private video material and studio footage, all framed by a shadow play that evokes the famous tale of Scheherazade. (Can Sungu)
Narges Kalhor, born in 1984 in Tehran, Iran. She studied directing and visual communication. In 2009, she applied for political asylum in Germany while in the country for a festival. Her graduation film IN THE NAME OF SCHEHERAZADE premiered at the Visions du Réel festival in Nyon and was awarded the Goethe Institut’s prize for best documentary film at DOK Leipzig.
Production Oasys Digital Production (München, Deutschland) Director Narges Kalhor Written by Narges Kalhor, Aydin Alinejadsomeeh Cinematography Julia Swoboda Editing Frank Max Müller Musis Yorgia Karidi Sound Design Andreas Goldbrunner Sound Philip Hutter Production Design Masha Novikova Producer Nicholas Coleman Co-Production HFF München (Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film), München With Ali Abusaiedi, Tahmineh Dokhani, Faezeh Nikoozad, Narges Kalhor.
Films: 2002: Without Discourse (5 Min.). 2004: Roshangari haie iek morgh (16 Min.). 2006: We must have Died! (5 Min.). 2008: Die Egge (15 Min.). 2011: München–Teheran (18 Min.). 2013: Shoot Me! (30 Min.). 2014: Kafan (5 Min.). 2015: Lavaschak (30 Min.). 2016: Gis (15 Min.); · Lovogary (4 Min.). 2017: Neda (5 Min.). 2019: In the Name of Scheherazade (75 Min.).
