Navid Akhavan Movies
A woman assumes a new identity in order to start her life over again in this drama from Germany. Fariba Tarizi (Jasmin Tabatabai) is an Iranian woman who wants to leave her country to escape the persecution that comes with being a lesbian. Fariba manages to make her way to Germany before it's discovered that her passport and visa are forgeries; she applies for political asylum, but is told she doesn't have much of a chance of being allowed to stay. While held in custody by immigration officials, Fariba meets Siamak (Navid Akhavan), a young man who has also fled Iran and is terrified by the prospect of having to go back. Siamak panics and kills himself, and when Fariba discovers his body, she takes his belongings, dresses in his clothes, cuts her hair and escapes custody posing as a man. Making her way into Stuttgart, Fariba gets a job at a canning plant, where she becomes friendly with Anna (Anneke Kim Sarnau), a single mother who has no idea Fariba is really a woman. Fariba becomes infatuated with Anna, and Anna makes it clear she feels the same way, but Fariba isn't sure how to tell her that she's really a woman, a situation made all the more difficult when she learns "Siamak" must return to Iran in two weeks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jasmin Tabatabai, Anneke Kim Sarnau, (more)
- 2004
An international tragedy may confirm a man's worst fears about one of his friends in this drama from Germany. Chris (Antonio Wannek) is a college student in Berlin who becomes roommates and later close friends with Yunes (Navid Akhavan), a Muslim who was born in Yemen but has spent most of his life in Germany and seems perfectly comfortable there. To Chris, Yunes seems like an easygoing regular guy until a bad breakup with his girlfriend. Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, Yunes starts spending time with fellow Muslims from a student group, and after taking a casual attitude toward his faith most of his life, Yunes begins growing a beard, studying the Koran, and moving away from the Western style of life. Chris is puzzled by Yunes' new attitudes, but even more confused when, after a journey to Pakistan, Yunes' personality takes a dramatic shift in the other direction, as he begins drinking heavily, chasing anything in a skirt, and generally turning his back on Muslim traditions. On November 6, 2001, Yunes disappears, and five days later terrorists stage a devastating attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Chris becomes deeply concerned, and begins to wonder if Yunes may have somehow been involved in the attack, as were other Muslims in Berlin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Wannek, Navid Akhavan, (more)
British film director Antonia Bird offers a chilling examination of the roots of extremism with this intensely-researched dramatization of the events leading up to the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Ziad Jarrah was perhaps the most secular and reluctant member of the Al Qaeda cell that would forever change the way the world views terrorism. In this film, viewers are invited to follow along with every history-making step as Jarrah and his fanatical group of religious extremists prepares to overtake United Flight 93, and strike terror into the hearts of those who would dare oppose their radical views. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
