EFF

Events

  • Inauguration

The festival opens on Friday 10 November, 18.30 at Bio Roy.

Program for the inauguration:

– Hawa Shahabi is the presenter

– Speech from the festival’s representative

– Poetry session with the poet Nilo Zamiri

 

– Music and vocals, “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour

The song has been described as the anthem of the post-Mahsa Amini protests. In 2023, “Baraye” won the inaugural Grammy Award for ‘Best Song for Social Change’ at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony.

– Short film: “As If No Misfortune Had Occurred In The Night“, a visual song about Palestine, 21 min

– Presentation of Shole Pakravan, main character from the film “Seven Winters in Tehran”

– Opening film: “Seven Winters in Tehran“, 97 min

– Q&A with Shole Pakravan

  • Lecture

  • Censorship in Exile

 

Lecturer: Parviz Sayyad

Saturday 11 November at 13.00

Hagabion 1

 

Parviz Sayyad is culturally and artistically a phenomenon in the history of Iranian film, controversial with both popular and non-commercial productions.

 

“Samad” is the most popular TV and film series among Iranian families. Although the films are banned by the regime, they are found in the homes of most film-interested Iranians.

 

On the other hand, he is one of the prominent figures of the new wave of Iranian cinema, and a number of significant films in the history of Iranian cinema are his creations.

 

The scope of the artistic activity is broad. He is a theater and film director, playwright, actor and producer.

 

Sayyad had to leave Iran when the dictatorship of the Islamic Republic took power.

 

In exile, as an independent freelance filmmaker, and despite many difficulties, he managed to produce films and stage plays.

 

At the same time, his life is in danger because of the fundamentalist mullahs and his anti-dictatorial and anti-religious artworks, which also fall victim to government restrictions.

 

In connection with the screening of the film “Checkpoint”, which is one of the victims, Sayyad will talk about his experiences of censorship in exile.

  • Lecture

  • The Power of Words and Images

– Freedom of speech and censorship under the totalitarian theocratic regime.

Lecturer: Khosrow Shahriari

Monday 13 November at 18.30

Världslitteraturhuset

 

Dr. Khosrow Shahriari is a researcher, playwright, poet and theater director. He published his first drama in 1972, a play staged in 1975 in Tehran. His important research work on Iranian theater and criticism of the theater’s political and social aspects, outraged the regime and its censorship system, causing the book to be banned.

 

The continued censorship and pressure from Iran’s fundamentalist religious regime became so harsh and severe that he was forced to flee the country for a life in exile.

 

Living in exile did not mean for Shahriari a period of silence and stagnation. He continued his fight for freedom and against the dictatorship of his homeland, through his cultural and artistic activity. He wrote many novels and plays that were staged in theaters in Canada and Europe.

 

The latest work is the drama “Sonnets of Death”, which has been staged in Germany, Canada and Stockholm. The play is about the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 by the mullahs in Iran.

  • Palestinian evening

  • Poetry – Music – Film – Conversation

Tuesday 14 November at 18.30

Folkets Hus Hammarkullen

 

After the screening of the film “Beirut: Storm of the Eye”, a conversation will be held with the film’s director Mai Masri. The conversation will be about the history of the film, and the liberation of women in Lebanon and Palestine.

  • Afghan evening

  • Poetry – Film – Conversation

Wednesday 15 November at 18.30

Kulturhuset Bergsjön

After the screening of the film “And Still I Sing”, a conversation will be held with the film’s director Fazila Amiri. The conversation will be about the history of the film and the liberation of women in Afghanistan

  • Open forum 

  • Q&A’s and discussions

The Exile Film Festival has invited some of the film directors who participate in the festival with their films. After certain specified screenings, an open discussion is held with the director in question:

– Shole Pakravan, main character from the film “Seven Winters in Tehran“, Friday November 10, at 21.00, Bio Roy

– Fariba Haidari, director of the films “The Scent of Dialogue” and “Leila”, Saturday 11 November, at 19.30, Hagabion 1

– Serif Cicek, director of the film “Tearing Walls Down“, Saturday 11 November, at 21.30, Hagabion 1

– Fazila Amiri, director of the film “And Still I Sing”, Wednesday 15 November, at 18.30, Kulturhuset Bergsjön

– Hesam Yousefi, director of the film “Mina – The Price of Freedom“, Wednesday 15 November, at 18.30, Selma Lagerlöfs Center

 

Information about additional filmmakers and which screenings they will attend, will be announced on our website’s “News” or the festival’s Facebook page.