| Director: | Ebrahim Golestan |
|---|---|
| Production: | Golestan Film Unit Teheran |
| Running Time: | 130’ |
| Language: | Farsi |
| Country: | Iran |
| Year: | 1964 |
| Main Cast: | Taj-al-Molouk Ahmadi, Zakaria Hashemi, Goli Bozorgmehr, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Akbar Meshkin, Jalal Moghadam, Parviz Fannizadeh |
| Screenplay: | Ebrahim Golestan |
| Cinematographer: | Soleyman Minasian, Ebrahim Golestan |
| Editor: | Ebrahim Golestan |
| Sound: | Mahmood Hangval |
| Restoration: | Ecran Noir Productions, Cineteca di Bologna. Funding provided by Cineteca di Bologna, Fereydoun Firouz. |
Cinema
Khesht o Ayeneh (Brick and Mirror)
Venice Classics
Synopsis
In 1960s Teheran, where the modern glare of nocturnal neon signs vies with the fears induced by a divested and deprived society, Hashem, a taxi driver, carries a woman passenger to an address on the edge of the town where she disembarks, and as soon as she is gone away into the darkness, he hears and finds a baby in the back seat of his taxi. He gets out and tries to alert and find the woman. His long and useless search goes on through many and different episodes, soon in the company of Taji, a restaurant worker with whom he has an affair. She sees in the lost baby a sign of deliverance from her insecurities in life, a way out towards a purpose in life.
Director's Statement
The title for this film was taken from a proverbial line of a poem by Attaar, a Persian poet who was killed in a general massacre during the Mongol invasion of Iran in the 13th century AD. The line from which I got the title says: “What the Youth sees in the mirror the Aged sees in the raw brick”. The quote was made not only to say that the details of the unfolding story are a reflection of the harsh and rough situation in the society the film depicts –or rather hints at. It also meant to invite attention to the details existing in parallel, only somehow a less visible aspect or dimension, with an extraneous but present, and almost complementary meaning of what it is that is going on, in a way like two different musical instruments playing different notes and tonalities to produce one composite sound or air to hear, or to express.
Producers/Distributors
PRODUCTION 1: Ecran Noir Productions
16 Boulevard Saint Germain
75005, Paris - France
Tel. +33 (0)6 19424532
ecrannoirprod@gmail.com
http://www.ecrannoir.fr/
PRODUCTION 2: Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Via Riva di Reno 72
40122, Bologna - Italy
Tel. +39 (0)51 2194826
cinetecadirezione@cineteca.bologna.it
http://www.cinetecadibologna.it
PRODUCTION WHEN THE FILM WAS MADE: Golestan Film Unit Tehran
WORLD SALES: Ecran Noir and Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Via Riva di Reno 72
40122, Bologna - Italy
Tel. +39 051 2194826
cinetecadirezione@cineteca.bologna.it
PRESS OFFICE: Ecran Noir Productions
16 Boulevard Saint Germain
75005, Paris – France
Tel. +33 (0)6 19424532
ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE: Andrea Ravagnan – Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Via Riva di Reno 72
40122, Bologna - Italy
Tel. +39 (0)51 2194833
cinetecaufficiostampa@cineteca.bologna.it
