With discussion
Whilst the Strait of Hormuz usually appears in the international news as a zone of military conflict and a strategic bottleneck, southern Iran is far more than that: an independent cultural region, shaped by African, Indian and Arab influences, with its own music, language and storytelling tradition.
At the heart of the programme is the musician and actor Ebrahim Monsefi (1945–1997), originally from Bandar Abbas, whose melancholic ballads, sung in the local dialect, still enjoy cult status today and inspire younger generations in particular.
The short films made in the 1970s by director Hassan Bani-Hashemi, also from Bandar Abbas, offer insights into the social conditions, poetic visual language and emotional landscape of the region. The programme features rarely screened works that are scarcely accessible today.
Screening:
- The Dry Pond (Berkehye Khoshk), 1972, 28 mins.
- The Whale (Nahang), 1973, 32 mins.
