List of Persian/Iranian Events for 2008-04-25

Sufism Symposium sponsored by the International Association of Sufism. 3-days, April 25-27, 2008. Begins with Psychology and Spirituality Panel at 3:00 pm on Fri. April 25, at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 1010 Northgate Dr., San Rafael. Evening highlight is Whirling Dervishes and Taneen Sufi Music Fri. April 25 7:00 pm at Angelico Hall, Acacia Ave., Dominican University, San Rafael. All day Sat. and Sun., April 26-27, Panels and Workshops led by Sufi scholars and leaders from around the world. Sat. evening Sufi zekr at 7:00 pm. Register for one, two or three days. Tickets from $20 - $180. Call (415) 472-6959 or go to www.sufismsymposium.org.

Psychology and Spirituality Panel presented by the Sufism Psychology Forum at 3:00 pm, Friday, April 25, 2008 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 1010 Northgate Drive, San Rafael. $30/ $20 students and seniors. Wheelchair accessible. CEU's for therapists. Speakers from different faith traditions. Part of the 3-day Sufism Symposium April 25-27presented by the International Association of Sufism. Call (415) 472-6959 or www.sufismsymposium.org.

Whirling Dervishes and Taneen Sufi Music Ensemble at Angelico Hall, Acacia Avenue, Dominican University, San Rafael, CA. 7:00 pm Friday, April 25, 2008. $30/ $20 students and seniors. Wheelchair accessible. Sponsored by the International Association of Sufism. Part of the 3-day Sufism Symposium April 25-27 at Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Rafael. Call (415) 472-6959 or www.sufismsymposium.org or www.taneen.org.

Dah be alaveh Chahar...

New Directors
Iran, 2007, 77 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Fri, Apr 25 / 8:30 / Kabuki / 1025K
Mon, Apr 28 / 12:30 / Kabuki / 1028K
Thu, May 1 / 6:45 / Kabuki / 1001K

CREDITS
dir
Mania Akbari
prod
Mania Akbari, Shahram Shahandeh
scr
Mania Akbari
cam
Tooraj Aslani, Faraz Heydari, Kohyar Kalari
editor
Mastaneh Mohajer
cast
Mania Akbari, Amin Maher, Mina Hamidi, Bahareh Mosadeghiyan, Ramin Rastad, Roya Akbari, Maedeh Tahmasebi, Behnaz Jafari
source
Sheherazad Media International, 2, 3rd Savestan, PavdaranStr, Shariti Ave, 16619 Tehran, Iran. FAX: +98 (21) 22 85 89 62. EMAIL: katysha@smediaint.com Download a pdf of Short Film Print Sources

Watch
Abbas Kiarostami introduced the world to Mania Akbari in 2002, when he placed his video camera on her dashboard and filmed her talking alternately to her son, friends and strangers while driving them through the streets of Tehran. Ten of those conversations became Ten, Kiarostami’s compelling portrait of a 27-year-old divorcée and mother struggling to maintain her integrity under the cultural rigors of Iran’s fundamentalist regime. Four years later, encouraged by Kiarostami, Akbari again took the wheel, literally and metaphorically, in her own conversation- and petrol-fueled sequel. There is a marked difference, however. Mania had since been diagnosed with breast cancer, and her illness drives the conversations this time around. Akbari was still in treatment while shooting the film, lending it an immediacy and intimacy at once disturbing and heartbreaking. Throughout, Akbari discusses her illness with amazing candor, as we watch her fight her grief and fear with the same strength of will and lack of self-pity she showed in Ten. This exceptional film reveals Akbari’s command behind the camera as well, sharply illuminating a woman’s complicated, often contradictory interior battles through the otherwise diffuse and meandering conversations of everyday life.

The Mystery of the Second Painting WATCH TRAILER
Presented to King Louis XIV as a work by Michelangelo, Daniele Da Volterra’s masterful David Killing Goliath is a double-sided painting representing the same scene from differing perspectives. This film carefully examines the nurturing relationship between the master artist and his protégé. (Muriel Edelstein, France 2007, 28 min) This film won a Golden Gate Award for television documentary short.

—Beverly Berning

Presented in association with Bay Area Women in Film.