http://www.exitart.org/digimovies/upcoming_screenings/accordian.html

For Immediate Release: A Tribute to Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof 
CFI PROTEST SHORTS and JAFAR PANAHI'S "THE ACCORDIAN"

**Post-screening Q&A with CFI representatives and filmmakers**

Wednesday, December 14

Bar opens at 7pm / Screenings at 7:30pm

THE ACCORDION
Panahi’s last finished film before his arrest in 2010 is about two young buskers in Tehran, a boy and a girl, who have their accordion confiscated in front of a mosque. The Accordion was produced for the international omnibus film Then and Now: Beyond Borders and Differences, commissioned by Art of the World, an NGO associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Directed by Jafar Panahi; 2010; 9 minutes; Iran, France, Brazil, Italy and Switzerland; in Farsi with English subtitles

In January 2011, Cine Foundation International, a human rights NGO aiming to “empower open consciousness through cinema,” launched a campaign calling for the release of Jafar Panahi.  The following program is a selection of shorts made for that campaign hailing from countries such as Russia, Spain and the UK:

UNTITLED

The first film submitted to Cine Foundation calling for the release of imprisoned film directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof came from an anonymous filmmaker in Iran. The last moments of all of Jafar Panahi’s features interweave silently over clam and meditative images and sounds of water, ending on the transfixing bounce of a bouy.

Directed by Anonymous; 2011; 10 minutes

FOR JAFAR PANAHI AND MOHAMMAD RASOULOF 
After a movie sudden stops running due to “technical difficulties”, a girl decides to venture to the projection booth to see for herself why the film stopped.

Directed by Jimmy Bontatibus; 2011; 6 minutes; U.S.

ONE WHITE BALLOON
In an homage to the films of Jafar Panahi, a white balloon (a symbol of the man himself) is transported through the streets of New York City en route to its attempted destinations – the Iranian Embassy and the United Nations.

Directed by Peter Rinaldi; 2011; 9 minutes; U.S.

BLIND ARTIST PAINTING A RED SEA
In Rasoulof's film The White Meadows (2009) an artist is blinded by indoctrinated, ignorant people for painting the sea red. Morgan’s film seems to depict this artist’s vision. It is dedicated to Mohammad Rasoulof and Katayoun Shahabi, an international film sales agent who has been accused of collaborating with the BBC and is now in prison.

Directed by Tobe Morgan; 2011; 7 minutes; U.K.

VOICE FOR PERSIAN CINEMA (VOZ PARA EL CINE PERSA)
A woman defiantly stares into the camera as she removes the 35mm film wrapped around her head and face, followed by the removal of her hijab, an act strictly forbidden on film in Iran.

Directed by Sergio Ortiz Borbolla; 2011; 1 minute; Mexico

FOR JAFAR PANAHI AND MOHAMMAD RASOULOF 
The incredible images captured from a free flying hot air balloon is followed by Jafar Panahi’s full letter to the Berlin film festival earlier this year.

Directed by Irina Shatalova; 2011; 4 minutes; Russia

Film descriptions courtesy of Cine Foundation International. Special thanks to Peter Rinaldi (CFI).

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