Archive of films Mainline / Khoonbazi

Iran
2006, 78 min

Section: Horizons
Year: 2007

Sara, a student, is addicted to heroin. Since her fiancé is soon to return from his study trip abroad, she decides, with her mother’s help, to end her harmful addiction once and for all. Mother and daughter set out on their journey, but not even the specialists, whom they try to contact, can guarantee when, or if, Sara will come through it.

Synopsis

Sara’s fiancé is coming back soon from his study trip in Toronto. He plans to get married, but he doesn’t know that he is engaged to a heroin addict. Sara and her mother Sima decide they have to do something about the situation once and for all, but it proves to be a tough test for both of them. The mother does her maximum to save her daughter, but she faces a painful attack on her hitherto untroubled middle-class status. Desperate Sara is depressive and uncontrollable and the drug rehabilitation specialists they try to contact cannot guarantee when, or if, Sara will come through it. This raw, psychological drama describes relationships stretched to their limits, and avoids simplification, melodrama and ugliness as an end in itself. The film has already attracted deserved attention at the IFF in Toronto. Its appeal is enhanced by the performance of the talented actress playing Sara, Baran Kosari, the daughter of director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.

About the director

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad (b. 1954, Teheran) studied film direction and began as a script supervisor and assistant director for Iranian television. She established herself as a documentary filmmaker and in 1986 debuted with her feature film Off-Limits (Kharej az mahdudeh). Her film The Blue-Veiled (Rusari abi, 1995) won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno IFF, and her film Under the Skin of the City (Zir-e poost-e shahr, 2001) brought her a number of awards, in particular, the NETPAC at the Karlovy Vary IFF in 2001 and the Special Jury Prize at the Moscow IFF. She also won a prize for her film Our Times (Ruz-egar-e ma, 2002 – NETPAC award at the Locarno IFF in 2002). Mohsen Abdolvahab debuted with the documentary film Hamsaran-e haj-abbas (2000 – Silver Wolf at the Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2001). He worked with Rakhshan Bani-Etemad on the films Gilane (2005) and Mainline.

Contacts

Horizon Motion Pictures
1271 Howe Street, Suite 237, V6Z1R3, Vancouver
Canada
Tel: +1 604 632 1707
Fax: +1 604 632 1711
E-mail: [email protected]

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

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Horizons

Director:	Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Mohsen Abdolvahab
Screenplay:	Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Farid Mostafavi, Mohsen Abdolvahab, Naghmeh Samini
Dir. of Photography:	Mahmoud Kalari
Editor:	Sepideh Abdolvahab
Producer:	Jahangir Kosari, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
Production:	Cinema 79
Cast:	Bita Farahi, Baran Kosari, Masoud Rayegan, Bahram Radan
Contact:	Horizon Motion Pictures, Farabi Cinema Foundation