Screenings
September 01 20:10
DEBATOUN GUESTHOUSE
Karun — The Longest River of Iran
Iran/Switzerland/Finland, 2024, 19’
in Persian w/ Arm․/Eng․ subtitles
Director and Scriptwriter: Sahand Sarhaddi
Cinematographer: Reza Didar
Producer: Laura Coppens, Sahand Sarhaddi, Niina Virtanen
Composer: Payam Hashemi Tari
Set Design: Sarah Azampanah
Editor: Anne-Mari Musturi, Sahand Sarhaddi
Sound: Azadeh Zandiyeh
Production Company: Sirkandi Films, Wacky Tie Films, Sahand Sarhaddi Productions
On September 22, 1998, the Iranian poet Hamid Hajizadeh and his nine-year-old son Karun, whose name symbolically refers to Iran’s longest river, were brutally murdered in their home in Kerman. The documentary film, based on the statements of the survivors, tries to sensitively reconstruct one of the many terrible, politically motivated events that took place in Iran at the end of the previous century, and draws us into the fateful day with the help of detailed shots of the objects in Hamid’s study.
Sahand Sarhaddi
Born in 1991, Sahand Sarhaddi is a filmmaker and visual artist. He is an alumnus of “Berlinale Talent” 2023 and graduated in Theatre and Dramatic Literature at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tehran University. In 2006, he started collaborating with some publications as a photographer. His artistic work focuses on integrating untold stories in history, photography, music and literature. He has done more than ten solo and group exhibitions (such as photography, video arts and performance arts) and five short and feature-length films that have been screened in festivals in Iran, Switzerland, France, the UK, the US, Germany, Canada, etc. He joined the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association (IRDFA) in 2020 and is currently a member of its board. Also a member of the House of Cinema. He participated in the Berlinale “Short Form Station” in 2023.
Filmography
Musical History of Burning (2015), Fragments of a Revolution (2019), The House of Forgetfulness (2021), Slaughter (2023), Karun — The Longest River in Iran (2024).