Sheffield Fringe

Farahnaz Sharifi

Farahnaz Sharifi graduated in filmmaking at Soureh Art University,Tehran. Her most recent film, Revolutionary memories of Bahman who loved Leyla, a short experimental documentary on Islamic revolution of 1978 screened at Idfa, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2012), Edinburgh Film Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, (2012), Montreal Film Festival, Montreal, Canada (2012), Documenta Madrid, Madrid, Spain (2013), and Upsala Film Festival, Upsala, Sweden (2013).

Revolutionary Memories of Bahman who Loved Leila

Revolutionary Memories of Bahman who Loved Leila | Iran 2012 | Video | 15 min

Bahman’s father warns him about Leila: she will bring the family nothing but misfortune. Bahman is 20 and tries to listen to his dad, but the year is 1979, and he ends up getting involved with both Leila and the Islamic Revolution. In his father’s mind, the revolution is trouble as well – it’s not up to normal Iranians to decide who should be in power. With the help of photos and in voice-over, Bahman tells of his desire for life, love and protest. In the black-and-white pictures, Bahman is invariably colored red: at a wedding, during a weekend trip to the Caspian Sea, playing soccer. Only when the protests get out of hand and the Shah’s soldiers begin shooting into the crowd does Bahman learn that his longing will bring death and destruction. And he remembers what his father always told him: “I see the bottom of the creek and you the surface.”

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