Hedye Tehrani Movies

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's third feature, Chahar Shanbeh Suri (aka Fireworks Wednesday), follows Rouhi (Taraneh Alidoosti), a betrothed woman who works for a local housekeeping agency. When she accepts an assignment cleaning the home of an affluent married couple about to leave on vacation, this newcomer to the household is quickly sucked into a virulent nuptial conflict of deceit, treachery, and vitriol that challenges all of her presuppositions about the nature of married life. By cloaking the events of the household (and their precipitants) in ambiguity, and constantly shifting the central perspective of the film from one character to another, Farhadi adds depth and complexity to the work and continually challenges the audience, forcing each viewer to rewrite his or her presuppositions about the characters. Though the film's title refers, in the metaphoric sense, to the explosiveness of domestic strife, the events in the film coincide with the firework-strewn Persian New Year of March 21, which lends the title a literal significance as well. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Marjan, a middle-aged, middle-class Tehran resident, is distraught when her cantankerous elderly father, Amir, goes missing. She goes to see her estranged husband, Aman, who reluctantly agrees to look for Amir, while Marjan watches over Aman's house, which is being renovated. Aman enlists the aid of his old friend, Atta, and the two drive off in search of Amir, who presumably took off to find an old friend whom he seems to have forgotten died years earlier. Atta playfully chastises Aman about his romantic entanglements. While they search for Amir, Aman's younger girlfriend pays an unexpected visit to his house and is surprised to find Marjan there. Meanwhile, Amir runs into another elderly man, Najmi, who agrees to help him find the apartment complex where his old friend lived so that he can deliver an important package. Amir tells Najmi that after the package is delivered, he's running away to Abadan, the beautiful oil-rich city on the southern shore of Iran. Najmi points out that the city was destroyed during the war with Iran, but Amir is concerned only with escape. Abadan is the debut feature from Iranian writer/director Mani Haghighi. It stars Jamshid Mashayekhi, Dariush Asadzadeh, Fatimeh Motamed Arya, Hedeyeh Tehrani, and Ehsan Amani. Abadan was shot by Mahmoud Kalari (The Wind Will Carry Us) on digital video with a very low budget. Because of its content (including profanity and spoken references to extramarital relations) and because it was not pre-approved by Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Abadan was rejected by Tehran's 2003 Fajr Film Festival and had its world premiere in Chicago at the 2003 Festival of Films from Iran. It was also shown at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Iranian director Naser Taghvai's drama Kaghaz-e Bi Khat (Blank Page) is about a woman in need of a creative outlet. Roya (Hedye Tehrani) is a housewife and mother who is starting to chafe at the restrictive bonds of Iranian society. She has a creative imagination and enrolls in a screenwriting class. Her husband Jahan (Khosrow Shakibai) does not support her in this endeavor. Even with the pressure from her husband and children, Roya finishes her script. Blank Page was screened at the Fajr Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Marriage is supposed to make people happy, but for two men it's both profitable and criminal in this comedy from Iran. Nader (Amin Hayayi) and Siamak (Abolfazi Pour-Arab) are a pair of longtime friends who run a business in which they help arrange weddings; they have horses for the bride and groom to ride, a flock of doves to release for dramatic effect, Siamak's significant other Diba (Hediah Tehrani) knows the ins and outs of the traditional Iranian wedding feast, and Nader's wife-to-be Roya (Elham Imani) helps Diba set up. But Nader and Siamak also have a lucrative sideline -- their wedding service is a front for a robbery ring, in which they carefully and efficiently rob their clients blind. Siamak finds himself unexpectedly wrestling with his conscience when he falls in love with Nasrin (Asel Badiie), much to the consternation of Diba. Siamak decides to propose to Nasrin, which leads to him getting the third degree from her dad (Saied Pirdoust), and as Siamak tries to hide the true nature of his business from his future father-in-law, who has hired a detective to spy on the potential groom, he tries to figure out a way to rob his own wedding. Dasthaye Aloodeh was released in the United States by the Iranian Film Society, an American firm dedicated to bringing mainstream Iranian cinema to audiences in North America. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this searing, eviscerating social commentary from Iran, journalist Amin Haghi projects the courage and fortitude to speak out against the despotic state via contributions to Persia's most left wing publication, but he takes a fatal and seemingly irreversible misstep by publishing his later brother's über-critical war memoirs. The action, in fact, so offends the government that it triggers Amin's immediate imprisonment. His friends and girlfriend soon arrive to try to bail their buddy out of jail, but hit a brick wall when they discover that the funds owed far extend their means. Then one comes up with the not-so-bright idea of raising cash by renting Amin's house out for special parties. One out-of-control celebration later (replete with North American music and alcoholic beverages), and government authorities turn up to address the situation. Director Saman Moghadam uses the story as a parable, to comment unflinchingly on the political repression plaguing all levels of Persian society. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi