Ruins Within

Iranian-American filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeedvafa traces her journey from growing up as young girl in Tehran to adjusting to life in America, while she reflects on how the films of Jerry Lewis spoke to her as an outsider in both countries. Peppered with clips from Lewis’ films, as well as other Hollywood classics, that have been dubbed into Farsi, this short documentary is “an invaluable cross-cultural lesson,” said esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who called Jerry and Me one of the best films of 2012.

Filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa interviews the veteran filmmaker three weeks before his death in an effort to introduce American cinephiles to his life and work. In addition, Saeed-Vafa skillfully uses film clips to illustrate the haunting quality of Saless' work and the impact it has had on generations of Iranian filmmakers.

"This intimate saga links the filmmaker's long-lost family home in Tehran, a historic Frank Lloyd Wright house in Alabama, and the formative years of renowned film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum, son of a family of movie-theatre owners, grew up in the Wright house, now a museum. Documenting the home over a period of years, Saeed-Vafa finds parallels between Wright's design eccentricities and the twisting course of dysfunctional family histories." —Barbara Scharres

A collection of 190-second short films created in response to COVID-19, commissioned by filmmakers Usama Alshaibi and Adam Sekuler.