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"The Other Side of Burka"
(Az Pase Borghe)
 

Director: Mehrdad Oskouei
Director Assistant: Shahrooz Tavakol, Reza Hosseinpour
Photography: Ebrahim Saeedi, Mehrdad Oskouei
Screenplay: Mehrdad Oskouei
Editing: Ebrahim Saeedi
Sound: Hossein Ghourchian, Shahrooz Tavakol
Mix and Sound designer: Hossein Mahdavi
Music: Ali Samadpour
Producer: Mehrdad Oskouei
Co-Producer: Katayoon Shahabi (SMI)
Color, Video, 1:1.33, 52 min, 2004

   
SYNOPSIS:

In the southern island of Qeshm, Iran, which is a very strict region in point of tradition and African-Arabic rules, all women are under the pressure of patriarch society. Their sufferance is manifested by different mental (Zar, Possession) and physical diseases which must be only treated by Zar Ceremony. For the first time, despite the danger these women face, this film tells us the sad story of their life and shows their confection in front of the camera. It tries to be an honest mirror which reflects their sufferance and unveils their Burka to reveal their real characters.

 BIOGRAPHY:  

Director, scriptwriter, and photographer, born in 1969 in Tehran. B.A. in film directing from Arts University. He started his art career as theater player in 1981 and started filmmaking in 1988. He has made 20 documentaries and short films. His films have received many awards from national and international festivals.

FILMOGRAPHY

Documentary:    

  • SAOCHI(co-director: Reza Yazdani)                             1996
  • THE NEW YEAR FOR TRIBE                                       1997
  • MY MOTHER’S HOME, LAGOON                                  2000
  • THE ECLIPSE(co-dircetor: Ebrahim Saeedi)                   2001
  • LOOK AT ME                                                            2001
  • FONDLER OF LIGHT                                                   2001
  • I CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT AFGHANISTAN   2002
  • THE WIDOWER                                                        2002
  • THE OTHER SIDE OF BURKA                                       2004

Short Film:

  • ANOTHER BIRTH                      1988
  • IN HIS HISTORY                       1989
  • INFORMATION                          1993
  • BORDER                                   1996
  • THE HEAVEN WE COME FROM     1997
  • HAJI BASHI PRIMARY SCHOOL     1998
  • YOU LOVE ME IF …                    1999

FESTIVALS:

  1. Int'l Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam(IDFA)(2004/Netherlands)
  2. Human Rights Int'l Film Festival of Geneva (2005/ Switzerland)
  3. Thessaloniki Int'l Film Festival (2005/ Greece)
  4. Int'l Film Festival Human Rights in Bologna (2005/ Italy)
  5. Int'l Documentary Film Festival Munchen ( 2005/ Germany)
    Winner of the Best Film
  6. Cracow Int'l Film Festival (2005/ Poland) Winner of Best Documentary Film
  7. Amnesty Int'l Film Festival in San Francisco (2005/ USA)
  8. Insular Int'l Film Festival (2005/ France)
  9. European Int'l Short Films in Lewisburg ( 2005/ Germany)
  10. Leipzig Documentary Int'l Film festival (2005/ Germany)
  11. Les Rencontres Int'l Doc Film Montreal (10 – 20 Nov2005/ Canada)
  12. Guangzhou Int'l Documentary Film Festival (6 – 10 Dec 2005/ China)
  13. Pune Int'l Film Festival (12 – 20 Jan 2006/ India)
  14. Dhaka Film Festival (2006 / Bangladesh)
  15. Montreal Documentary Human Right Film Festival (24–26 Mar 2006/ Canada)
    Winner of the Special Jury Award
  16. Mediawave, 2006 Festival (28 April – 6 May 2006/ Hungary) 
  17. Amakula Film Festival (2006 / Uganda)

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