Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Country: Iran / Tajikistan / France
Year: 1998
Runtime: 76 minutes
Farsi with English Subtitles
Awards: Venice Film Festival - 'CinemAvvenire' Award, Sergio Trasatti Award - Special Mention, The President of the Italian Senate's Gold Medal
Iranian cinema has been an important dish on American film lovers' menus for some time now, and one of the dominant names in Iranian films is Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Not only is he still making films, but now two of his daughters, Samira and Hana, are creating their own work. With THE SILENCE we enter the world of a blind child. This is not just a child with normal child concerns, but one who helps support his family. With this basic idea, Makhmalbaf creates another film that tells a story of his country and people, who seem exotic to most American filmgoers. One of the techniques he uses to make us aware of the young boy's blindness is a great attention to the sounds accompanying the story, such as the sound of a foot on the ground or a door closing. Thus the idea is fortified that a blind life is not a silent world, but a world with a heightened sense of sound. The sense of composition and framing by the director and the cinematographer, Ebraham Ghafari, dazzles the audience with image after image. Supplementing these images is the Farsi language, which provides a lyrical rhythm to the images. As we, the audience, view such a film, we are freed of thoughts of parking lots, calls we have to make, and where we ought to eat next. THE SILENCE is a 76-minute escape to another world without the uncomfortable airline ride. Film can do this. (Synopsis by Fred Linch.)
Principal Cast: Tahmineh Normat Ova, Nadereh Abdollah Yeva
Director Bio:
Born in a poor area in Teheran in 1951, Makhmalbaf left school at the age of fifteen to form a group of religious activists in opposition to the regime then in effect, the government of Shah Rheza Pahlevi. Two years later he was imprisoned and was only spared from execution because he was under age. He was released from prison during the Moslem revolution and realized he might go into politics by means of artistic activities. He wrote twenty-eight short stories, three novels, ten plays, two books of essays, and twenty-eight scripts (several of these forbidden) before his debut as a director in 1982 at the age of 31 years with Nassouh Repentant. Makhmalbaf, known internationally for The Peddler, The Cyclist, and Once Upon a Time, Cinema, has directed 15 films.
Filmography:
2002 Alefbay-e afghan
2001 Secret Ballot
2001 Kandehar
1998 Silence
1996 Gabbeh
1996 A Moment of Innocence
1995 Salam Cinema
1993 Actor
1992 Once Upon a Time, Cinema
1991 Time of Love
1991 The Nights of Zayandeh-Rood
1989 The Cyclist
1989 Marriage of the Blessed
1987 The Peddler
1986 Boycott
1984 Two Blind Eyes
1984 Fleeing from Evil to God
Writer, Editor, Set Designer: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Director of Photography: Ebrahim Ghafouri