The plot of the film is set in the North of Iran and the film is a product of Iran, Canada, and France. This is the second film of Kahani in 2020 that has been filmed in Canada. The first film is titled “ISTHMUS”, which features an all Canadian cast and story, and a screenplay that is in English. “You Won’t See Winter”, however, is a return to Iranian stories and the Farsi language. When both films are completed, they will be distributed by an international distributor in 2021.
The Executive Producers of “SAY’ are Patrick Gimenez, Ali Aryana, and Dorsay Shafie. The actors of the film have been selected from the Iranian-Canadian community and include Ali Aryana, Ghazal Partou, Sadaf Shakori, Nazanin Rasekhi, and Aryan Abasniya. The Cameraman is Moein Motalebi, who has previously worked with Abdolreza Kahani in Iran. Shima Monfared, the Editor of the film who has always worked alongside Abdolreza in his projects, is in the process of editing the film. David Moffat is the Sound Engineer. The Assistants include Kayvan Fard, Dorin Saadat, and Armand Gangi. The Assistant Producers are Elnaz Zarsazan and Roham Maher. Natalia Pozo is the Special Effects Makeup Artist. Last but not least, Armin Pasha is the Set Designer.
The postproduction of “SAY” is being completed in Toronto and Paris. We look forward to showing you our completed project and we thank you for your support.
ARK Gate Films is proud to announce that we are in the midst of producing our first film “You Won’t See Winter.”
“SAY” is an Iranian-Canadian film that will be directed by Abdolreza Kahani. The film will be shot on an island in Ontario in the months of July and August. The cast and crew for this film have already been determined and the film is set to be completed by the end of September this year.
Iranian director Abdolreza Kahani (Twenty), whose films have played at Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki and Sao Paolo film festivals, is making his English-language debut with psychological thriller Isthmus.
Writer-director Kahani emigrated to France in 2015 after three of his films were banned in Iran and he was prevented from submitting them to international festivals.
Shoot is underway in Canada on Isthmus, about a woman who loves her husband but struggles with the fear of being controlled by him. The Canadian cast includes Stephanie Jaskot, Reece Presley, Catherine Howard and Adam Daniel Mezei.
In Iran, the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture imposes a strict process of review and approval for all screenplays before films can be legally produced in the country. Films that are produced also face censorship, and directors are often ordered to remove certain scenes before the authorities allow them to screen the film. Prominent director Abdolreza Kahani migrated to France in 2015 after three of his films were banned in the Islamic Republic and he was prevented from submitting them to international festivals. His films, which focus on social issues in the country, had great commercial success but “sometimes a filmmaker’s actions become more important than his films,” he told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a recent interview.
CHRI: What kind of censorship do filmmakers encounter in Iran? Which agencies are involved? Kahani: First, the screenplay has to be submitted to the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry. A censorship committee of eight or nine people will review it. After the film is made, it has to be reviewed by the Screening Permit Council.
But after the council issues a permit, many other authorities can create problems, including the Islamic Propagation Organization (IPO), the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the municipality and others.
For instance, the IRIB could refuse to show the trailer [on national TV] for certain films. Or the municipality could refuse to let it be shown at theatres. Every organization will raise obstacles in any way they can. Filmmakers always had issues with the Guidance Ministry but now they have to deal with other agencies as well. In fact, censorship has not gone away; it has become even worse. CHRI: Are members of the review committees known by the filmmakers? Are they themselves engaged in the film profession? Are they film critics? Kahani: There is a department of the Guidance Ministry called the Office for Overseeing and Evaluating Films. It is the censorship office, in essence. They watch all the films. Some of them are permanent members and others change with every new government. Some of them are filmmakers who like to engage in censorship as well. That is one of the strange aspects of the film industry in Iran.
The committee watches the films to ensure that the people would not be “corrupted” by certain scenes. That always made me ask the question: How is it that the sensors themselves are not corrupted when they watch these films? CHRI: Are censorship requests communicated verbally or in writing?
Iran-Thailand cinematic venture ‘Miss Yaya’ is set to get theatrical release in Iranian cinemas soon.
Abdolreza Kahani made a screening deal for his new flick set in Thailand with a string of stars from Iran cinema such as Reza Attaran, Amin Hayai and Hamid Farokh Nejad.
The flick has some Thailand thespians on the cast list as well.
‘Miss Yaya’ which changed name from ‘We Like You Miss Yaya’ will be screened at Iran Cinematic group.
Iran has taken its cultural censorship efforts to new levels by pressuring a filmmaker to cancel the screening of one of his films in Canada.
The film, Delighted, by Abdolreza Kahani, was due to be screened last month at an independent theatre in Toronto.
But Kahani decided to cancel the screening after receiving a warning from Iran’s Culture Ministry.
A source close to Kahani’s production team who did not want to be named told RFE/RL that the ministry “advised” the filmmaker that if he would go ahead with the screening his other film, We Love You Mrs. Yaya, which was filmed in Thailand, would not be allowed to be shown inside Iran.
“When we announced that the film would be screened [in Canada] and tickets were sold, we received a message requesting the screening be cancelled; the message said that, if not, Kahani’s [other] film – [which was] was made in Thailand and was costly — will not receive a screening permit,” the source said.
The source added that authorities had also contacted producers, including those involved in the production of We, Love You Mrs. Yaya, to convince him to cancel the November 24 screening in Toronto.
Kahani has said in an interview with Radio Canada that Delighted is the story of three women who want to have a good time in Iran and are trying to meet wealthy men in order to achieve that goal.
A Culture Ministry official was quoted in 2016 as saying that Delighted was “immoral.”
Last year, a member of a committee that issues screening permits said that Delighted was problematic “from the beginning till the end.” He didn’t provide details but said the film was “not amendable.”
Film critic Khosro Dehghan says the Culture Ministry’s move to block the showing of Delighted in Canada was unprecedented.
“The Culture Ministry is not likely to confirm this issue as it would prove that the ministry won’t limit itself to the country’s borders — any film that is banned here will not be allowed to be screened anywhere else in the world,” Dehghan said in an interview with the daily Jamee Farda.
“The ministry has now extended its reach beyond Iran’s borders,” Dehghan added.
Banned At Home, Lauded Abroad
Authorities routinely ban award-winning Iranian movies from cinemas inside the country.
But until now there hadn’t been any known efforts to prevent the screening of controversial movies outside the country.
Dissident film director Jafar Panahi — who received a six-year prison sentence and a 20-year ban on directing movies in 2010 — screened his latest film Taxi, made clandestinely, at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival where it received the Golden Bear Prize.
Panahi told Jamee Farda that Iran should not interfere in the screening of films in other countries.
“Domestic rules should not be enforced when it comes to screening movies in other countries,” he said.
Abdolreza Kahani was one of the special guests at the 2017 CineIran festival in Toronto in November, where a retrospective of his movies has been shown. The Iranian filmmaker managed also a workshop about his fascinating manner of filmmaking.
Abdolreza Kahani has finished filming his new movie ‘We Like You Mrs. Yaya’ in Thailand.
A joint production of Iran and Thailand, the movie has been fully shot in the South Asian state with a mixed cast and crew from the two countries, Cinetmag.com reported.
This is not the first time Kahani has directed a film abroad. In 2014, he made ‘We’ve Got Time’ in France. However, the French-set movie as well as Kahani’s last film ‘Delighted’ (2016) have not yet been screened in Iran and still wait for permits to be issued by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
The story has not been revealed yet but the few screenshots suggest that it follows the same path Kahani has taken in his recent films, dealing with social issues in a humorous way.
Well-known Iranian actors Reza Attaran, Hamid Farrokhnejad, and Amin Hayai and the Thai actress Nitaya Chaisri play the lead roles.
International Film Festival of Kashmir (IFFK) 2015 Wednesday concluded with Award Ceremony in which Iranian and Spanish movies bagged maximum awards in different categories. ‘Absolute Rest’ directed by Iranian filmmaker Abdolreza Kahani won Best Feature Film award while another Iranian film ‘Waskat’ received Critic Award in International Category.
