This is a great opportunity to view films from Iran that are very popular with teachers, and participate in a discussion session following each film. Please contact The Outreach Center with any questions!

*The details:*


The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University invites you to a film series by the internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi. This series, organized by Ramyar Rossoukh (a joint PhD candidate in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies), will explore the role of 'Islam' in the development of Iran's thriving cinema through short presentations and a Q & A session following the film screenings.

All films are in Persian with English subtitles and will be shown at Harvard's Center for Government and International Studies Building (South) Room S010, in the Tsai Auditorium.

**For maps and parking information, see
http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/outreach/about/map

THE WILLOW TREE

Iran, 2005 / 96 min. / DVD
Directed by: Majid Majidi

Written by Majid Majidi, Fouad Nahas, Naser Hashemzadeh

Cast: Parviz Parastouie, Roya Teymourian, Afarin Obeisi

Departing from his focus on youth themes and use of non-professional actors, Majidi casts one of Iran’s biggest film stars, Parviz Parastouie, in this urban adult drama. Parastouie, who began his career in early ‘war’ films, plays Yusef, a blind university professor who asks God to spare his life before undergoing a life-threatening operation in Paris. But when Yusef unexpectedly regains his sight, he cannot reconcile his new desires with his former life. While sharing in many of the themes of Majidi's film "Color of Paradise", "The Willow Tree" offers a more somber view of spiritual redemption in the modern world.