Renowned Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker screens three of his films at Northwestern

EVANSTON - Renowned Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi will visit Northwestern University for a series of screenings and conversations May 23-25.

Ghobadi’s films tackle a variety of themes such as justice, dispossession and movement. Some of the films focus on the plight of the Kurdish people while others shed a light on modern-day Iran.

All screenings are free and open to the public. They will take place at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston.

“Bringing an internationally-acclaimed filmmaker from Iran to campus to discuss his cinematic masterpieces with our Northwestern community helps make more vivid the beauty and social conditions of one of the most misunderstood regions of the Middle East,” said Brian Edwards, Crown Professor in Middle East Studies and director of the Middle East and North African Studies program (MENA).

“Ghobadi’s films highlight the trials and tribulations of being a Kurd not only inside Iran but also across the Middle East,” said Hamid Naficy, professor of Radio/Television/Film and the Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Professor in Communication. “Having him on campus will bring an intimate, insider perspective to the Northwestern community.”

The events are co-sponsored by MENA and The Block Museum’s cinema program.

“The ongoing collaboration between the Block Museum and the Middle East and North African Studies program has brought some of world cinema’s most vital figures to Northwestern, and this year is no exception” said Michael Metzger, the Block Museum’s Pick-Laudati Curator of Media Arts.

“Bahman Ghobadi’s compassionate, uncompromising and moving cinema represents everything we strive to showcase in the Block’s cinema program -- a commitment to global perspectives and marginal voices, a spirit of aesthetic discovery and a sense of responsibility to the world on the other side of the screen. We couldn’t be happier to welcome Bahman Ghobadi to the Block for three evenings of film, dialogue and discovery "

Schedule

Wednesday, May 23
6:30 pm: Reception
7:00 pm: Screening of “A Time for Drunken Horses” (2000, 80 min)

Post-screening discussion with Ghobadi led by Emrah Yıldız (Northwestern assistant professor of anthropology and Middle East and North African Studies) and Foroogh Farhang (Northwestern Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology).

For details, click here: https://tinyurl.com/yb5lexrl.

Thursday, May 24
6:30 pm: Reception
7:00 pm: Screening of “Sometimes Look Up” (2014, 15 min)
7:20 pm: Screening of “Turtles Can Fly” (2004, 98 min)

Post-screening discussion with Ghobadi and film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum led by Brian Edwards (director of Northwestern University's Middle East and North African Studies program)

For details, click here: https://tinyurl.com/yauyjreu. 

Friday, May 25
7:00 pm: Screening of “No One Knows About Persian Cats” (2009, 106 min)

Post-screening discussion with Ghobadi led by Hamid Naficy (Northwestern professor of Radio/Television/Film and Middle East and North African Studies) and Simran Bhalla (Northwestern Ph.D. candidate in screen cultures).

For details, click here: https://tinyurl.com/y9tltrb5

A generous gift from Northwestern alumnae Tamilla Ghodsi ’91 and Zuleika M. Ghodsi ’93 established the Iranian-American Fund for Cultural Programming, which enables the MENA program to bring Iranian filmmakers, photographers and other artists to Northwestern over the next several years.