The 2013 Edinburgh Iranian Festival's film programme has been sponsored by Tailors Ldt and Creative Scottish, and is organised in collaboration with the Filmhouse Cinema Edinburgh and the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace (MESP) , to screen six Iranian films.

Filmhouse Cinema
The Filmhouse Cinema is the venue for all the films screened during the 2013 Edinburgh Iranian Festival. Please contact the cinema directly to book your tickets.
A: 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9BZ, T: 0131 228 2688, W: www.filmhousecinema.com 



A Cube of Sugar (Ye Habbe Ghand)
Date: Thurs 7th Feb 2013
Time: 20:30
Reza Mirkarimi • 2011 • Iran • 110mins • Farsi with English subtitles
Reza Kianian, Negar Javaherian

From the director of ‘As Simple as That’, this is a story about how the peace and quiet of an old and lively garden is torn apart when guests show up. Four sisters and their families have all come to help with the preparations for the engagement party of their youngest sister. This stay might mean trouble for the brother-in-laws of the family, but the kids cherish every moment of it. That is all until...

Kissing the Moon-Like Face (Boosidan-e Rooy-e Mah)
Date: Fri 8th Feb 2013
Time: 20:40
Homayoun Assadian • 2012 • Iran • 93mins • Farsi with English subtitles
Saber Abbar, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh

Etherem and Forugh are a pair of elderly ladies, who have been neighbours and acquaintances for more than four decades. Both of their sons were victims of the Iraq-Iran war – but their remains have never been found. Now, more than 20 years after the conflict has ended, Forugh has been diagnosed with a terminal medical condition, and she has little time left to find peace. Assadian gives us a film that speaks with deep knowledge of the long, ineradicable scars of war, of Iran today, and of loss and friendship.

Salma and the Apple (Salma o Sib)
Date: Sat 9th Feb 2013
Time: 13:10
Habib Bahmani • 2011 • Iran • 90mins • Farsi with English subtitles
Hadi Dibaji, Sogol Ghalatian

Hadi Dibaji stars as a cunning, playful and impulsive young Muslim seminary student and cleric, who embarks on a voyage of discovery which is bittersweet in its self-indulgent futility. This story uses the symbol of the apple as a forbidden fruit to represent issues of consent, accountability, forgiveness, human rights and free will. Notable Iranian director Habib Bahmani found success at Russia's Golden Minbar festival (2011) and at Cannes with this social drama.

Hatred (Boghz)
Date: Sun 10th Feb 2013
Time: 16:00
Reza Dormishian • 2012 • Iran • 84mins • Farsi with English subtitles
Baran Kosari, Babak Hamidian

Zhaleh and Hamed are two youngsters from the third generation of Iranian immigrants who have settled down in another country against their will. Their families take refuge in Turkey in order to have a peaceful life. “Hatred” includes two parallel stories from two periods of Zhaleh and Hamed’s lives, including the story of the 8 crucial hours when they commit a robbery, so they can use the money to start a happy life somewhere else.

The Orange Suit (Narenjipoosh)
Date: Tues 12th Feb 2013
Time: 20:40
Dariush Mehrjui • 2012 • Iran • 107mins • Farsi with English subtitles
Leila Hatami, Hamed Behdad

Hamed Aban, a professional magazine photographer is suddenly affected by a book on Feng Shui and becomes profoundly interested in environment cleanliness and protection. He goes as far as getting employed by the city council, wearing an orange uniform and getting famous under the name of the “licentiate in orange”. As Hamed’s credit and fame start having an effect on his personal life, he begins to face severe emotional issues which change the direction of his life…

Modest Reception (Yek Paziraie Sadeh)
Date: Thurs 14th Feb 2013
Time: 20:40
Mani Haghighi • 2012 • Iran • 100mins • Farsi with English subtitles
Taraneh Alidoosti, Mani Haghighi

This twisted Iranian narrative follows a mysterious couple from Tehran as they distribute large bags of money in an impoverished mountain border town. Beginning as a black comedy, the film's mood transforms as the games played by Kaveh (director Mani Haghighi) and Leyla (Taraneh Alidoosti) become increasingly perverse, as they find inventive ways of humiliating the recipients of the cash. The immorality of the central characters is at times sickening, and their chain of lies is often as puzzling to us as they are to the townsfolk depicted onscreen. What is the relationship between the pair and why are they giving away money to the needy? Modest Reception has no easy answers, nor pat resolutions - instead Haghighi takes the viewer on an intriguing ride into the dark recesses of the human spirit. 


Poets of Protest
Date: Sunday 17thFeb 2013
Time: 15:30
Roxana Vilk & Yasmin Fedda • 2012 • Lebanon/ France/Iceland /Norway • 100 mins • Arabic and English

Poets of Protest reflect the poet's view of the change sweeping the Middle East through its intimate profiles of contemporary poets with filmic interpretations of their poetry as they struggle to lead, to interpret and to inspire; including Palestinian Mazen Maarouf, Lebanese Yehia Jaber, Iraqi Manal
Al-Sheikh and Syrian Hala Mohammed. Executive produced by Scottish Documentary Institute for
Al Jazeera English.

Following on from the screening there will be a question and answer session with director Roxana Vilk. www.roxanavilk.com