This Is Not a Film

In a small religious town in Iran, Ali After a fight with his father, escapes to the desert where he hears music for the first time in his life: a shepherd who plays Ney. From that moment his life changes forever.

An elderly couple go about their routine of cleaning their gabbeh, while bickering gently with each other. Magically, a young woman appears, helping the two clean the rug. This young woman belongs to the clan whose history is depicted in the design of the gabbeh, and the rug recounts the story of the courtship of the young woman by a stranger from the clan.

A girl reaches the age of nine and is supposed to act as a grown woman according to her family. A girl participates in a bike race against the will of her husband. An elderly woman decides she wants to buy all the things she always wanted but could never get.

Touran Mirhadi (Khomarloo) is the founder of Farhad School, the Children's Book Council, and the Encyclopedia for Young People. She was also actively involved with close to 20 other institutions dealing with child development and education and supported the formation of dozens of others. She is known as the preeminent architect of childhood institution and the mother of modern education in Iran. This film follows the efforts and preoccupations of Ms. Touran Mirhadi in the last four years of her life. It shows how she strove to enrich the field of child education in Iran to the age of 89, always maintaining that peace was to be cultivated at childhood.

A poetic portrayal of the life of Shirin Parsi - rice farmer, environmentalist, and social activist.

"Lady of the Roses" is the name of the living memory of "Shahindokht Industrial". A lady who went to Laleh-e-Zar region of Kerman before the revolution and replaced flowers with poppies and roses with opium, and reached a point where "Gulab Zahra" changed the agricultural destiny of a region. We hear this story from Homayoun Sanati, Shahin Dokht's wife, three years after his death. The man who is the founder of "Franklin Publications", "Offset Printing House", "Pars Paper Making" and in general one of the rare figures of Iranian culture, industry and management.

Back Vocal tells the story of women singers, whose unaccompanied singing is forbidden by religious laws of the country, but who nonetheless try to remain active; even if that means taking the second seat. I knew from the beginning that such a film would not get permission to be screened, so I never applied for a permit.

Six Centuries and Six Years is a documentary by Mojtaba Mir Tahmasb. In this documentary, a group of musicians try to retrieve and reread the ballads attributed to Abdul Qader Maraghi, the most prominent musician, theorist, writer and poet of six hundred years ago, based on ancient books and treatises from the history and culture of Iran.

Off Beat is about young music lover—influenced by musical trends in the world, some of which are deemed harmful by officials in Iran—who have no place in the formal Iranian music scene and who play music in the quiet of their homes. Once I started editing Off Beat I realized that it may not get permission for screening. I nonetheless applied, but it was in vain.