The Stranger and the Fog

Sunday, 15.6.2025, 13.30 hrs

Feature film
Drama IR 1974 140 min
D: Bahram Beyzaie
A: Parvaneh Massoumi, Khosrow Shoja'zadeh, Manuchehr Farid
Farsi with english subtitles.

In a remote coastal village, the inhabitants discover a mysterious boat in which a wounded stranger named Ayat has washed ashore. With no memory of his past, he searches for a connection to the community - and to Rana, whose husband has gone missing. Bahram Beyzaie, digitally restored after decades, is a work of dream symbolism, archaic rituals, mythological and political references. The strong-willed Rana, the powerhouse of the film, breaks with the image of women that dominated Iranian cinema in the 1970s.

Followed by a discussion!

Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Bahram Beyzaie. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Director

Bahram Beyzaie (*1938 in Tehran) is a leading Iranian playwright, director and film and theater scholar. With films such as Downpour (Ragbar) and Bashu, he is considered a pioneer of the Iranian “New Wave”. He emigrated to Stanford in 2010.

Trailer