UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema at YBCA
UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema at YBCA
San Francisco
Experience the vibrant world of Iranian cinema at the UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema exclusively in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, presented in partnership by Farhang Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
This highly anticipated event features some of the most acclaimed Iranian films of the year making their exclusive San Francisco premiere. Join us for a remarkable journey through stories that inspire, challenge, and captivate.
Empty Nets
JAN 24 - 6:30 PM
The rarefied but rough-and-tumble world of caviar smuggling is the milieu for writer-director Behrooz Karamizade’s feature debut. Amir and Narges are young and in love but that only means complications. She’s well-to-do with a father who demands a wealthy suitor. He’s working-class and newly unemployed. After finding work as a fisherman he’s determined to prove himself but shortcuts to quick cash prove too tempting as he feels Narges slipping away. Dramatic action on the Caspian Sea and in the back alleys of their coastal town makes this a particularly suspenseful critique of opportunity and tradition in Iran.
Director/Screenwriter: Behrooz Karamizade
Cast: Hamid Reza Abbasi, Sadaf Asgari, Keyvan Mohamadi
DCP, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 101 min.
In the Land of Brothers
JAN 25 - 2:00 PM
Directors Alireza Ghasemi and Raha Amirfazli tell a powerful story across three interconnected episodes of an Afghan refugee family’s generational struggle to make a home in Iran. Corrupt authorities, dehumanizing immigration laws and simply ironic twists of fate each take their toll. Nuanced and affecting performances from the largely non-professional cast and a piercing sense of trauma and injustice that never slips into the melodramatic contributed to Amirfazli and Ghasemi’s win for Best Directing in the World Cinema category at Sundance this year where their feature film debut made its world premiere.
Director/Screenwriter: Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli
Cast: Hamideh Jafari, Bashir Nikzad, Mohammad Hosseini
DCP, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 95 min.
Roxana
JAN 26 - 2:00 PM
A listless young man splits his time between caring for his mom (barely), hanging out at the local underground pool hall and spending his best friend’s money. A chance encounter with Roxana after her car is broken into focuses his attention and soon he’s centered his life around helping her recover a stolen camera she needs for her wedding photography business. Helping her solve her problems, however, only deepens his own. Writer-director Parviz Shahbazi builds an arresting take on the experience of young Iranians struggling to find their way and start their lives in a world where one misstep can have the direst of consequences.
Director/Screenwriter: Parviz Shahbazi
Cast: Yasna Mirtahmasb, Mahsa Akbarabadi, Maede Tahmasbi.
DCP, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 119 min.
Event Details
| Event Starts | 01/24/2025 |
| Event Ends | 01/26/2025 |
| Individual Price | $10.00 |
| Location | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) |
