CIRCUMSTANCE: Reza Safai and Sarah Kazemy by Brian Rigney Hubbard
CIRCUMSTANCE: Reza Safai by Brian Rigney Hubbard
" CIRCUMSTANCE " Maryam Keshavarz 2011 Categories: U.S. Dramatic Competition The Audience Award: Dramatic was presented to Circumstance, directed and written by Maryam Keshavarz, in which a wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's dangerous obsession. Teenagers Atafeh, and her best friend, Shireen, are experimenting with their burgeoning sexuality amidst the subculture of Tehran’s underground art scene when Atafeh’s brother, Mehran, returns home from drug rehab as the prodigal son. Battling his demons, Mehran vehemently renounces his former life as a classical musician and joins the morality police. He disapproves of his sister’s developing intimate relationship with Shireen and becomes obsessed with saving Shireen from Atafeh’s influence. Suddenly, the two siblings, who were close confidants, are entangled in a triangle of suspense, surveillance, and betrayal as the once-liberal haven of the family home becomes a place of danger for the beautiful Atafeh. Splendidly constructed and saturated with a sumptuous sense of style and sensuality, Circumstance marks the arrival of an exciting, original talent. First-time feature writer/director Maryam Keshavarz registers a rare glimpse of forbidden love in today’s Iranian youth culture.
About the Production Story A tale of love and family upended by obsession and suspicion, CIRCUMSTANCE is also a provocative coming-of-age story that cracks open the hidden world of Iranian youth culture, where a young woman’s most electrifying passion is her most dangerous secret. The Audience Award winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Maryam Keshavarz’s debut boldly takes filmgoers inside a modern Iran rarely witnessed by outsiders: an exhilarating, invisible realm of illicit parties where young hipsters risk arrest, and their futures, as they experiment with sex, drugs and defiance. In this unseen world, rife with playfulness and peril, two vivacious teenage girls -- wealthy Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) and orphaned Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) -- are discovering their burgeoning sexuality. Like 16 year-old girls anywhere, they are full of wild yearnings and imaginative fantasies. And while the simplest things - swimming, singing, becoming who they dream of being - are often disallowed to them, they take risks every day to lead their own lives. But when Atafeh’s troubled brother, Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai), suddenly returns home from drug rehab, their private world is threatened. Looking to start his life anew, Mehran joins the Morality Police, a volunteer force that pursues those who break the country’s strict cultural laws. Attracted to Shireen and dismayed by her love for Atafeh, Mehran begins an unsettling and shadowy campaign of spying on his own family. As he ramps up his surveillance, the consequences ensnare them all in a complicated web of desire and betrayal that will unravel their bonds and compel them each to make starkly different decisions. Filmed in an undercover production in Beirut, Lebanon, Keshavarz’s fast-paced, sensual style forges a powerfully relevant tale of youth in search of freedom. CIRCUMSTANCE will be released nationwide on August 19, 2011. Roadside Attractions and Participant Media present CIRCUMSTANCE, written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz, and starring Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho, Amir Barghashi, Fariborz Daftari and Keon Mohajeri. The producers are Karin Chien, Keshavarz and Melissa M. Lee and the executive producer is Christina Won. GINGGER SHANKAR (Composer) is the creative force behind some of the most daring, exuberant and technically proficient music being made today. Her haunting, angelic vocals and prolific composition and instrumental talents entwine to create a musical experience unlike any other. Gingger, the artist and co-composer behind the poignant score of Mel Gibson's 2004 box office hit The Passion Of The Christ, has lent her voice and vision to several diverse projects ranging from soundtracks to soulful pop and electronic hip-hop. In addition to The Passion of the Christ, Gingger's music can be heard in Mike Nichol's film, Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks, where she had a chance to collaborate with film composer James Newton Howard. Her voice can also be heard in Jackie Chan's film, The Forbidden Kingdom. During this time she worked with George S. Clinton on Eastern Indian notation and arrangements for the Mike Myers’ picture Love Guru. She also composed music for the Sundance award-winning documentary Recycle directed by Al Massad. Most recently, Gingger created a piece for Ajay Naidu's film Ashes, which premiered at Toronto's Filmi and MIACC Film Festivals. She teamed up again with Al Massad for his documentary This is my Picture When I Was Dead, which was selected for World Competition at the IDFA film festival as well as the Dubai Film Festival. She is currently working on Homecoming a feature film by Sean Hackett. Gingger has collaborated with such uniquely talented and varied artists as The Smashing Pumpkins, L. Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Phil Collins, Steve Vai, Peter Gabriel, Trent Reznor and Tony Levin, to name just a few. In 2007, Gingger was one of only six film composers selected from around the world to attend the prestigious Music Composer’s fellowship at the Sundance Film Institute. This year also saw her appear at the Hollywood Bowl on the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album with Cheap Trick and accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In February of 2008, Gingger debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a soprano in Osvaldo Golijov's opera "Ainadamar.” In the fall of 2008, Gingger toured with the Smashing Pumpkins as a special guest on their 20th Anniversary tour. That same month, Gingger debuted at Carnegie Hall as a soprano in the opera “Ainadamar.”
CIRCUMSTANCE (AUDIENCE AWARD: DRAMATIC): " TRAILER #1" (VO) - " TRAILER #1" (VOSTFR) - FILM CLIPS (VOSTFR): " CLIP #1" - " CLIP #2" - " CLIP #3" -