“ Farsi uses animation as a way to set the acutely painful civilian experience of the Iran-Iraq conflict at enough of a remove to make it bearable: From a distance, like a floating overhead angle or a wide cityscape vista, even smoke clouds and flying rubble can acquire a sort of beauty .” Variety
The Siren (2023) opens in 1980 in Abadan, the largest port city in Iran. Teenage food delivery boy Omid is playing football when a missile hits a nearby refinery. Too young to take up arms himself, he becomes a provider for a group who are united in need. He is determined not to give up the search for his missing brother and to find an escape route out of the encircled city.
Born in Tehran and based in Paris since 1984, Sepideh Farsi’s work is both deeply humane in its political engagement and unique in its modes of expression; including scripted narrative drama Red Rose , and documentaries such as Tehran Without Permission , and Put Your Soul on your Hand and Walk (screening at ILFD Friday 22nd). Runtime: 110 minutes.