AN OWL, A GARDEN, AND THE WRITER
Dir: SARA DOLATABADI
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi is one of the most prolific Iranian novelists. In this beautiful, poetic portrait, gracefully crafted by his filmmaker daughter Sara Dolatabadi, he reflects on his life throughout the turbulent 20th century. Meanwhile, his daughter manages to create her own images of a father who is full of luminous ideas, yet also somewhat peculiar and lonely.
Iran, France, Suisse | 2023 | 83 min
Language: Persian with subtitles
Stick around after the screening for a discussion with the producer Farhad Mohammadi
An Owl, a Garden & the Writer
(Joghd, Bagh Va Marde Nevisandeh)
Director: Sara Dowlatabadi
Sara is an Iranian multimedia visual artist. Her life was transformed at a young age when the Islamic Revolution changed the political landscape in Iran and by the Iran-Iraq War, which she experienced through the eyes of a child. These memories influenced her practice as a visual artist and filmmaker, which can be seen as a meeting point between the microcosm of the personal and the macrocosm of the political. After receiving her BFA from Azad Art University (Tehran), she spent the next decade living and exhibiting in Tokyo, Paris and New York. While in New York, she obtained her MFA from Hunter College and, for her thesis, she directed and produced a short documentary, Summer Light, about her family. She currently resides in Libreville, Gabon.
Producer Farhad Mohammadi
(Present in Person)
Farhad Mohammadi is an Iranian American Producer based in Chicago. Most recently, Farhad produced Sara Dolatabadi's feature film, An Owl, A Garden & The Writer (2023), about one of Iran's most prolific writers, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi; the film had its World Premiere at Visions du Reel and subsequently screened at Busan IFF, Pompidou Centre & Doclisboa (winner of Rights & freedoms Award). He studied film at NYU, International Center of Photography and has served as Jury member and Guest Programmer at International film festivals.