Bandar Band
Manijeh Hekmat
This film has been nominated for the Audience Award endowed with 1,000 euro. Please vote after watching the movie.
You can find an overview of all nominated films here.
Three young musicians from an Iranian province want to enter a competition in Tehran. It could be just the chance the band needs to launch their international career. They set off in their minibus, all fired up and full of hope. But huge floodwaters have left countless roads completely blocked. The three protagonists meet one hitch after another en route and are forced to perform some spur-of-the-moment rescue acts. But, with their goal seemingly drifting further and further away, they’re not ready to quit their dreams just yet.
Manijeh Hekmat is a respected and renowned director in Iran. She’s more than familiar with the issue of censorship in the country, so her film’s dialogue contains plenty of subtle political pointers along the way. And you can’t miss the metaphors for the situation in the film’s visuals either. They tell the story of a dream for a life of freedom that waits expectantly on the horizon, and of the freedom that lies in music. The floods caused by heavy thunderstorms threw the shooting plans off course, leading to improvised scenes that give the film real authenticity and an almost documentary-like impact. In her likeable road movie, Manijeh Hekmat creates a visual homage to the landscapes of Iran and a portrait of a young generation not willing to let obstacles hold them back.
In cooperation with Visions of Iran.
Manijeh Hekmat
Manijeh Hekmat gehört zu den wichtigsten Vertreterinnen des politischen Kinos in Iran. 1962 in Arak geboren, begann sie ihre filmische Laufbahn mit eigenen Experimentalfilmen und arbeitete ab 1995 zunächst als Produzentin. Ihr Spielfilmdebüt Women’s Prison basiert auf intensiven Recherchen zur Situation von Frauen in iranischen Gefängnissen und feierte 2002 auf dem Filmfestival von Venedig Weltpremiere. Ihr zweiter Spielfilm Three Women wurde 2008 auf der Berlinale uraufgeführt und auf über 80 Festivals gezeigt. Manijeh Hekmat drehte zudem mehrere Dokumentarfilme und produzierte 16 Spielfilme sowie verschiedene Dokumentar- und Kurzfilme.
Filme von Manijeh Hekmat (Auswahl)
Old Road 2018 | Three Women 2008 | Women’s Prison 2002