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The Makhmalbaf Film School was established in 1996 by post-revolutionary Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1957–), a key figure of the 1980s and early 1990s and a central inspiration for Abbas Kiarostami’s CLOSE UP (1990). The school was positioned as part of Makhmalbaf Film House, an overarching infrastructure which also included a production arm to help finance and distribute films made under the auspices of the school and beyond. Set up in the Makhmalbafs’ Tehran house – hence the name – the school allowed its family of students to major in particular disciplines. Three students chose direction including Samira Makhmalbaf (Mohsen’s daughter, 1980–) and Marzieh Meshkini/Makhmalbaf (Mohsen’s second wife and Samira’s stepmother, 1969–). This season explores the films made by Samira, Mohsen and Marzieh Makhmalbaf including Mohsen’s playful explorations of the everyday realities of filmmaking in Iran – SALAM CINEMA (1995) and A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (1996) – Samira’s remarkable first feature as a 17-year-old, THE APPLE (1998), and Marzieh’s ground-breaking THE DAY I BECAME A WOMAN, a potent portrait of three women at various stages of their lives. Poetic, socially and politically engaged, often-feminist in orientation, grounded in the everyday, and endlessly playful and self-aware, the films created by this collective constitute one of the great legacies of New Iranian Cinema.
Supported by VicScreen.
WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE
7:00pm SALAM CINEMA
Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1995) 75 mins – Unclassified 15+
8:35pm A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE
Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1996) 78 mins – Unclassified 15+
10:05pm THE SILENCE
Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1998) 75m – Unclassified 15+
WEDNESDAY 26 JUNE
7:00pm BLACKBOARDS
Samira Makhmalbaf (2000) 85 mins – PG
35mm print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia
8:40pm TWO-LEGGED HORSE
Samira Makhmalbaf (2008) 101 mins – Unclassified 15+
WEDNESDAY 3 JULY
7:00pm THE DAY I BECAME A WOMAN
Marzieh Meshkini (2000) 78 mins – Unclassified 15+
8:30pm GABBEH
Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1996) 75 mins – G
35mm print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia
9:55pm THE APPLE
Samira Makhmalbaf (1998) 88 mins – Unclassified 15+
Full program notes: melbournecinematheque.org/category/present-year/the-house-that-mohsen-built-the-films-of-samira-makhmalbaf-marzieh-meshkini-and-mohsen-makhmalbaf
Memberships: acmi.net.au/cteq
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
ACMI, Domestic Carpet Cleaning Services, Flinders St, Southbank VIC 3004, Australia,Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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