Persian International Film Festival 2013

Overview

The Persian International Film Festival, now in its second year, collects films from Persian-speaking communities in Iran and Afghanistan. Persia may seem like an unlikely subject for a festival, but it boasts one of the most miraculous film scenes in the world, with masterpieces like The Circle and Kandahar emerging despite serious censorship and a lack of funds and film-making infrastructure.

The jewel in the crown of this year's selection is probably Abbas Kiarostami's beautifully melancholy Like Someone In Love, a film which demands your patience but also richly rewards it. The opening night film, A Respectable Family, described as Iranian noir, played at Cannes Film Festival to strong reviews, while big things are expected from the comedy Chicken With Plums, from Marjane Satrapi, who previously wrote and directed the film based on her Persepolis, one of the defining graphic novels of the last 20 years. As a bonus, both opening and closing night films come with Persian tea and sweets.

This year the festival celebrates 50 years of Persian film with retrospective screenings, like the modern classic Color of Paradise; Turtles Can Fly, a searing and often surreal look at the upheaval in Iraq in the days before the 2003 invasion; and The Cow, a classic, fable-like tale of a man who loses his beloved animal.