Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (Iran)
Director: Hana Makhmalbaf
Year: 2007
Runtime: 81 minutes
Cast: Nikbakht Noruz, Abdolali Hoseinali
Screening Times: February 28, 2008, 8:00 PM
Screens at Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street West
Synopsis:
A dramatic and horrifying illustration of the tragedy that has befallen the children of Afghanistan. Made by a young Iranian woman director (Hana of the famed Makhmalbaf family), this gritty story of a tiny girl who want to go to school is filmed against the wreckage of the bombed out Buddha on the great Silk Road. It is a tough and true depiction of the daily violence in which most Afghani’s live.
Read this longer synopsis by John deFore of The Hollywood Reporter.
Epoch Times review — “A colorful but devastating journey to the Middle East.”
Director’s Biography:
Born on September 3rd, 1988 in Tehran, Hana started Makhmalbaf Film School after she finished second grade and studied cinema for eight years. She has been the script supervisor and photographer for a few films. Her first film ‘The Day My Aunt Was Ill” received international attention at Locarno Film Festival in 1997 when she was only 9 years old. At age 14 Hana made a behind-the-scenes documentary of her sister’s film, “Stray Dogs.” She published her first book of poetry “Visa for One Moment” in 2003. “Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame” is her first feature.
Interview with Hana Makhmalbaf on SubalternCinema.
Awards:
Special Jury Prize, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Spain
TVE Award, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Spain
UNICEF “Paolo Ungari” Special Award, Rome International Film Festival
Daniel Langlois Innovation Prize, Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montreal
Woman and Equality Award, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Greece
Discovery Prize, Sarlat Film Festival, France
Overview by Julie Giles
