Yalda, la nuit du pardon
Yalda, a Night for ForgivenessThe spotlights and cameras are all in position. The moderator takes a last quick look at his notes. The final seconds of the intro ad roll by – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – and then the reality TV show goes live. Televised on the night of Yalda, of all days, a Persian celebration of the winter solstice. Tonight’s guest is Maryam, a young woman condemned to death. She is accompanied in studio by Mona, who has always been like a big sister to her. Maryam was living with Mona’s father in a temporary, marriage. Now she stands accused of his murder. In front of the camera and millions of viewers, Maryam is supposed to beg for forgiveness and her life. Alluding to a real, popular Iranian TV Show, the television studio serves as a stage for a chamber play that also explores the social dimensions behind the personal drama.
With
- Sadaf Asgari (Maryam)
- Behnaz Jafari (Mona)
- Babak Karimi (Ayat)
- Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee (Mother)
- Forough Ghajebeglou (Keshavarz)
- Arman Darvish (Omid)
- Fereshteh Hosseini (Anar)
Crew
Written and Directed by | Massoud Bakhshi |
Cinematography | Julian Atanassov |
Editing | Jacques Comets |
Sound Design | Dana Farzanehpour, Denis Sechaud |
Production Design | Mahmoud Bakhshi |
Costumes | Rana Amini |
Make-Up | Leila Sani |
Producers | Jacques Bidou, Marianne Dumoulin |
Co-Producers | Nicole Gerhards, Joëlle Bertossa, Flavia Zanon, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Georges Schoucair, Fred Premel, Ali Mosaffa |
Co-Production |
Niko Film Berlin Close Up Films Genf Amour Fou Luxembourg Ettelbruck Shortcut Films Beirut Tita B Productions Douarnenez Ali Mosaffa Productions Teheran ZDF Arte Mainz RTS SRG SSR Bern VOO Be TV Lüttich |
World Sales
Pyramide International
Produced by
JBA Production
Massoud Bakhshi
Yalda, la nuit du pardon | Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness
Generation · Berlinale Meets | Interview · Feb 24, 2020
Massoud Bakhshi
Born in 1972 in Tehran, Iran where he still lives. Between 1990 and 1998, he worked as a film critic, screenwriter and producer. He has made ten documentaries and a short film which have won numerous awards. His debut feature film, A Respectable Family, was selected for the 2012 Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
Filmography
1999 Cine Citta; documentary · Identification of a Woman; documentary 2001 When Behrang Meets Ayoumi; documentary 2003 Praying for The Rain; documentary 2004 Lost Windows; documentary 2007 Tehran Has No More Pomegranates; documentary 2008 Baghdad Barber; short film 2010 Our Persian Rug; documentary 2012 A Respectable Family; feature film 2019 Yalda, la nuit du pardon (Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness); feature film
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020