Archive of films Paradise Is Somewhere Else / Behesht ja-ye digari ast
Iran
2003, 80 min
Section:
Official Selection - Competition
Year: 2003
Seventeen-year-old Eidok is a goatherd who dreams of leaving home and discovering “the world outside.” But when his father is killed and the young man’s relatives push him into taking blood revenge, he begins to understand how complicated relations are between the ancient traditions in which he was raised and the alluring, unknown outside world.
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Eidok is a goatherd. Throughout his long, monotonous day he never stops dreaming of finding a place more interesting than the microcosm of his native village with its simple, unchanging routines. His parents don’t want to stop Eidok from leaving, but they are so poor that for the time being they expect their nearly-adult son to stay and help out. Despite this, the young man unflaggingly follows his dream. His desire for change, however, is repaid with pain as realization: the outer, superficially alluring world enters his uncomplicated life in an unexpectedly brutal way. The young man’s father is killed and Eidok is exposed to pressure from his relatives: tradition demands that he take revenge, but he cannot ambush his father’s alleged killer in cold blood. When one day an escape route finally opens before him, Eidok begins to understand that leaving home is not as ideal as he imagined. He also begins to suspect that staying put requires the same amount of courage as leaving – cutting oneself off from one’s roots isn’t as easy as running away from oneself.
About the director
Abdolrasoul Golbon (b. 1960, Shiraz) graduated in film and began his career as a director of television shorts and documentaries. He shot the documentary series The Epic of Sousangerd, part of the well-known television documentary project The Chronicle of Victory. Paradise Is Somewhere Else is his feature debut. The director said of his film: “The world is full of different aims and dreams, and everyone, with each thought and belief, is searching for a lost thing or a new horizon in life. In this film, we have a look at people’s efforts to obtain a better opportunity.”
Contacts
CMI - Cima Media International
64 Hedayat St. Yakhchal Ave., 19497, Tehran
Iran
Tel: +98 21 254 8032
Fax: +98 21 255 1914
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.cmi.ir
Farabi Cinema Foundation
76, Sie Tir Ave, 11358, Tehran
Iran
Tel: +98 21 670 1010
Fax: +98 21 670 8155
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.fcf-ir.com
About the film
Color, 35 mm
International premiere
Section: | Official Selection - Competition |
---|---|
Director: | Abdolrasoul Golbon |
Screenplay: | Abdolrasoul Golbon |
Dir. of Photography: | Mohammad Davoudi |
Music: | Saeed Ansari |
Editor: | Hassan Hassandoust |
Producer: | Mohammad Hossein Haghighi |
Production: | Cima Film, koprodukce / coproduction: Farabi Cinema Foundation |
Cast: | Yar-Mohammad Damanipour, Jan-Mohammad Tajik, Fereshteh Sarabandi |
Contact: | CMI - Cima Media International, Farabi Cinema Foundation |