MOUTH HARP IN MINOR KEY
A timely documentary film about exiles in America and the families they left behind, MOUTH HARP IN MINOR KEY sheds light on the dynamics of our contemporary times, beset by globalization and consolidation of capital and media, on the one hand, and by fragmentation and disruptions of nation-states, on the other.
In this film, Iranian filmmaker Maryam Sepehry follows the eminent film scholar Hamid Naficy in the United States and his family in Iran. It is a documentary portrait that elucidates the complexities of personal identity in a globalized world, where individual, national, and transnational forces interact.
Q & A with the director following the show.
THICKER THAN PAINT
This documentary is about the life of “Habibeh”, a self-taught painter who, according to her, has created 4000 works with her special tools and techniques during seven years. For “Habibeh”, art is a medium to endure the imposed and unwanted sufferings of her life. Habibeh’s works had not been widely displayed until the making of this film.
There will be a discussion session following the film.
The Dawn is Too Far Stories of Iranian-American Life
In “The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life” we share the powerful narratives of individuals from the Bay Area Iranian diaspora community, who contribute to and creatively respond to their history, and indeed add to the richness of this region.
At a time when immigrants, primarily from black and brown communities--from Mexico, to the Caribbean, and the Middle East-- have been vilified and stereotyped as criminals, drug-runners and terrorists, it is especially important to hear the real story of immigrants.
Q & A with the director following the show.
Yalda for Kids
Join KCLS & Peyvand Non-Profit Organization for a children’s storytelling and artmaking session that celebrates Shab-e Yalda (Yalda Night), a Persian holiday dating back thousands of years that welcomes the winter solstice & brighter days ahead triumphing light over darkness.
ALBORZ: WE CLIMB MOUNTAINS FILM SCREENING AND DIRECTOR TALK
Join us on 12/8/24 4:00 pm at the UW Bothell Campus Discovery Hall 061 for the screening of Alborz: We Climb Mountains (2023, 86 mins.), which tells the story of the school during many tumultuous years in Iran’s modern history, from the perspectives of its graduates, teachers, and even Dr. Mojtahedi’s own voice from archival recordings; it tells it with humor, fondness, and nostalgia for a bygone era. It exemplifies what has been lost in the years since the 1979 Revolution and why today so many among the bright and promising young Iranians sound critical of current policies and administrative mishandling of one of their country’s once top educational institutions.
Residency in Persian Literature
Week-long Iraj Khademi Residency in Persian literature
Three exciting individuals will be in residence at the University of Washington between November 11-15, 2024.
Mohammad Asef Soltanzadeh, award-winning Afghan novelist and short story writer, based in Denmark
Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi, Tajik novelist, journalist, and activist from Uzbekistan, based in the Netherlands
Laura Yasmine Catterson, doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the University of California, Davis, who works on Iranian and Iraqi poetry
Impasse-A Documentary Film on the Woman Life Freedom Movement in Iran
"Impasse" a long awaited documentary on the "Woman Life Freedom" movement in Iran , written and produced by Bahman Kiarostami and Rahmaneh Rabani. The film depicts 52 Days of Rahmaneh’s life in the beginning days of the Woman Life Freedom movement after Mahsa Jina Amini's death. English subtitled. Rahmaneh spent her first two decades fully veiled, like her mother Elaheh, as part of a deeply religious family. Now 37, she is at the forefront of Iran’s protest movement and at odds with her father and the culture he created.
Event made possible by a grant from the City of Bellevue
Layla Ramezan Concert
Layla Ramezan is one of the most creative and talented artists of our time. She will be performing her magnificent project "Horizons", the musical intersection of the Orient and the Occident followed by a lecture on the richness of Persian Piano Music, and the strong connection between the Eastern and Western worlds, their mutual attraction and fascination, which has produced extraordinary music over a period of more than 100 years.
Special thanks to Early Music Seattle and Babak Khiavchi for their collaboration.
Artist Talk "When To Pick A Pomegranate
California-based, Iranian American artist, Yasmeen Abedifard, speaks about her her newly published comic collection "When to Pick a Pomegranate" (pub. Silver Sprocket 2024)
Hosted by Peyvand partist, Amelia Ossorio and University of Washington's Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. Sponsored by Peyvand Nonprofit Organization
Storytelling & Poetry Recital at the “Too Much To Carry” Art Exhibit
Peyvand Artists Group is a proud sponsor of the "Too Much To Carry" art exhibit. Mana Mehrabian, an Iranian artist living in Eastern Washington, and Seattle-based artist Mary Coss investigate personal and ancestral migrations through sculpture and installation. Please join us to meet and greet the artists and to enjoy storytelling by Siamak Vossoughi, a local fiction writer and to poetry reading by poet and activist, Merna Hecht at the Vestibule gallery
Mini Canvas Paint Workshop
Join our talented local artist, Kameh Saman, for an exciting painting session and valuable lessons on creating your own masterpiece.
Tuesday August 13, 2024 1:00 p.m. Renton Highlands Library, Renton, WA
Event is Free and open to those registered through Renton Highlands Library
Community Paint Night
Great opportunity for community members, youth and adult to enjoy their creativity and learn painting techniques from Monir Malekpour, a talented and seasoned artist in the Seattle area.
July 30, 2024 6:00 PM Renton Highlands Library, Renton, WA
Event is Free and open to those registered through Renton Highlands Library
Camp Ayandeh
Camp Javan (for middle schoolers) and Camp Ayandeh (for high schoolers), are being held this July 2024 at Whittier College in Whittier, CA. The beloved Camps focused on our diverse Iranian diaspora are run by Ayandeh, a non-partisan, non-religious, non-profit, committed to inclusivity and community growth.
IACA 18th Annual Iranian Festival
Seattle Iranian Festival will take place on June 22: 12pm-6pm at the Armory Food & Event Hall. The festival is part of the Festál series. It is free and open to the public.
This year’s theme of LOVE celebrates the collective love we have together for Iranian music, arts, language, food, dance, and culture!
Peyvand’s Art Exhibit at the IACA 18th Annual Iranian Festival
Join us at IACA’s 18th Annual Seattle Iranian Festival’s Art Exhibition on Saturday, June 22nd!
Prof. Saeed Talajooy Lecture
Senior Lecturer at University of St. Andrews School of Modern Languages, Dr Saeed Talajooy studied and taught English & world literatures in English in Iranian universities and through his teaching became interested in how ideas, characters and images travel across genres, cultures and historical periods.
Aria Fani Book Signing
Come meet social advocate, and educator Aria Fani. Professor of Persian language and literature and translation studies at the University of Washington.
Ultimate Citizens Documentary Screening
Jamshid, an Iranian American school counselor, builds a world-class Ultimate Frisbee team from the immigrant and refugee students arriving at his inner-city public school in Seattle.
Hollywoodgate Screening
An intrepid filmmaker tracks the Taliban’s first year in power in the wake of the United States’ Afghanistan withdrawal, centering on an air force chief and a low-level fighter as the fundamentalist sect takes over a former American military base known as the Hollywood Gate complex.
The Etilaat Roz Screening
As the Taliban takes over Kabul, the staff of Afghan newspaper the Etilaat Roz weigh their options: submit to the censorious new regime, continue their award-winning reporting on corruption, or escape their homeland forever.
2024 Peyvand-SIFF Reception
Celebrate with us at our Meet & Greet Reception on May 12, 2024 at the SIFF lounge.
The Etilaat Roz Screening
As the Taliban takes over Kabul, the staff of Afghan newspaper the Etilaat Roz weigh their options: submit to the censorious new regime, continue their award-winning reporting on corruption, or escape their homeland forever.
Hesitation Wound Screening
One tense day in the life of a Turkish criminal defense attorney (Tülin Özen) as she wrestles with legal and ethical questions in defending a factory worker accused of murder while also keeping her hospitalized mother on life support. From Selman Nacar, the director of Between Two Dawns (SIFF 2022).
Critical Zone Screening
With only the voice of his GPS to guide him, Amir drives through the underbelly of Tehran delivering hashish to his clients and friends. Winner of the 2023 Locarno International Film Festival Golden Leopard Award.
Ultimate Citizens Documentary Screening
Jamshid, an Iranian American school counselor, builds a world-class Ultimate Frisbee team from the immigrant and refugee students arriving at his inner-city public school in Seattle.
Critical Zone Screening
With only the voice of his GPS to guide him, Amir drives through the underbelly of Tehran delivering hashish to his clients and friends. Winner of the 2023 Locarno International Film Festival Golden Leopard Award.
Hesitation Wound Screening
One tense day in the life of a Turkish criminal defense attorney (Tülin Özen) as she wrestles with legal and ethical questions in defending a factory worker accused of murder while also keeping her hospitalized mother on life support. From Selman Nacar, the director of Between Two Dawns (SIFF 2022).
Hollywoodgate Screening
An intrepid filmmaker tracks the Taliban’s first year in power in the wake of the United States’ Afghanistan withdrawal, centering on an air force chief and a low-level fighter as the fundamentalist sect takes over a former American military base known as the Hollywood Gate complex.
Terrestrial Verses Screening
In this absurdist, formally inventive Iranian movie structured around nine vignettes, a cross-section of Tehran society—fathers, filmmakers, schoolgirls, rideshare drivers—is interrogated by various offscreen authority figures and bureaucrats intent on making their lives harder.
Terrestrial Verses Screening
In this absurdist, formally inventive Iranian movie structured around nine vignettes, a cross-section of Tehran society—fathers, filmmakers, schoolgirls, rideshare drivers—is interrogated by various offscreen authority figures and bureaucrats intent on making their lives harder.
50th Seattle International Film Festival
Celebrate 50 years of surprising cinema at the Seattle International Film Festival
