A series of Persian short films will launch today for the first ever “International Persian and French Film Festival” that will be held on campus this weekend. The festival is part of “Women’s Herstory Month” and each of the films is by and about women.
“The festival highlights a variety of films and brings the campus together,” CineCulture professor and club advisor Dr. Mary Husain said. “All the films are fabulous. It brings together diverse groups and departments to create cultural understanding. It also allows post-film dialogue and discussion.”
Each culture gets its own evening slot to highlight its film.
The festival begins at 5 p.m. today, with live music followed by the screening of nine Persian short films at 5:30 p.m. in the Peter’s Education Center Auditorium. The short films include “Red Wednesday,” “The Wind is Blowing on My Street” and “A Reluctant Bride.” The discussant for Friday’s films will be Dr. Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi, a Middle Eastern and women’s studies professor for Cal State Fullerton.
The other Persian films that will be shown on Saturday are “Pay Back” and “We are Half of Iran’s Population.”
“The importance of these films, especially for Iranian women, is the culture is represented,” Husain said. “Obviously not being of Iranian decent, I can’t speak for the culture, but given the way Iran is portrayed in the press, the films provide a refreshing alternative view of Iran and its women.”
On Saturday the festival will continue with two more Persian films as well as three French films, including Saturday night’s feature film, “A Bit of Color.”
The other French films that will be shown at the festival are “The Hedgehog” and “Hidden Diary.”
The films “Hidden Diary” and “A Bit of Color” will be screened for the first time in the United States.
The discussant for “A Bit of Color” will be Dr. Ruth A. Hottell, French professor and chair of the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
The festival was brought to campus by Husain, French professor Rose Marie Kuhn, professor Negin Tahvildary and Vidia Samiian, the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.
The idea for a Persian film festival was proposed last year by Samiian. Husain then proposed collaborating with the French program and Kuhn, Tahvildary and Samiian agreed. The films for the festival were then selected by the group as a whole.
The festival was also meant to coincide with the Persian New Year, Nowruz, which is March 21.
“The reason we chose to focus on Persian and French films is because of the connection between Iran and France,” French professor Rose Marie Kuhn said. “After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, when they ousted the Shah, a lot of the middle class and supporters of the Shah immigrated to France and the United States. So there is a connection between the two. Also there are approximately 20,000 people of Iranian decent in Fresno.”
The Persian short films will be the only films shown today, and on Saturday films will be shown throughout the campus at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and the festival will conclude with the screening of “A Bit of Color” at 6:30 p.m.
“We hope that students have a good time,” Husain said. “They are all great films and give students the opportunity to learn about other cultures through cinema. It also provides them with the unique opportunity to discuss the films. We want to open understanding and respect diversity.”
