Petroupolis Film Club will screen on Wednesday, 24/1, at 20:00 at the “Petroupolis” Cinema, the film of the Iranian director, Navid Mihandoost, “Cafe”.

Admission is free.

The film had its world premiere at the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival in November 2023. In addition to the film, the Club has secured and will exclusively screen a short video, with a message from the director from inside the Iranian prison where he is being held, and with his sister telling Navid Mihandoost’s story.

About the film

A paroxysmal dream emerges from the depths of Kislovsky’s filmography and awakens the doomed Iranian director Shohrab who, forbidden to make films, spends his days in a neighbourhood café. However, a young woman’s request to present her performance in the shop will spell new trouble, both for his already troubled marriage and for his strained relations with the authorities, who are pressuring him to provide ‘juicy’ information if he wants to go easy.

Through an imaginative attempt at autobiography, the director invites us to try a new and undoubtedly unusual blend of Iranian cinema, leaving us with an aftertaste of sardonic support for his country’s deeply regressive and illiberal regime. A hopelessly cinematic chamber drama, centred on a Zen and uncompromising hero who evokes Nani Moretti, and spearheaded by humour in the face of what is systemically absurd.

Iran (2023) | Duration: 96′ | Directed/Written by: Navid Mihandoost | Directionof Photography: Farhad Soleimani | Film Editing: Parisa Parvin Nia | Sound Design: Amirhosein Golmohamadi, Mojtaba Asadi, Amir Nakhjavan | Music: Fardin Khalatbari | Cast: Ramin Sayar Dashti, Setareh Maleki, Mahsa Mahjoor, Mehdi Sajadifar, Masood Esmaeeli.