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.

A homosexual teenager from Syria, an artist with Afghan roots and an Iranian-born beer brewer »in a mixture of socially relevant narrative and the very first story from the Middle East«. Political, oriental, exotic – everything you could wish for from an Iranian filmmaker?

In a cheerfully anarchic blend of documentary, fiction and animated frame narrative about the ›world’s first storyteller‹, Narges Kalhor and her protagonists confront unfamiliar expectations and their own insecurities. Eli wants to apply for asylum but is reluctant to speak about her traumatic experiences in Syria. Sarah was born in Germany but is repeatedly asked at her exhibitions about her Afghan ›home‹. Mahnaz plans to open Teheran’s first beer garden but faces resistance from the Iranian authorities. And documentary film-maker Narges is frustrated with her tutor who urges her to make a film about her own escape story as they review film material together. Just as Sheherazade once needed storytelling as a strategy of survival, Narges and her actors today struggle to find their voice and tell their story. But how can you say anything if someone is constantly interrupting you? Seen only in terms of her cultural background, the film-maker’s scope for creativity seems small, and the risk of being consumed by anger and grief big. In the end it is the tried-and-tested weapons of comedy – humour, chaos, slapstick – that help Narges and her film break through rigid structures and demonstrate resistance in the form of collective laughter. Three cheers for storytelling in difficult times!

As part of the »ifs Begegnung« Gender & Diversity and of Internationales Frauen* Filmfest Dortmund+Köln 2021 on June 16th at 7.30 p.m. an Online-Talk with director Narges Kalhor will take place. As part of the coollaboration In the Name of Scheherazade or the First Beer Garden in Teheran will be available on our video-on-demand platform from June 9th – free of charge!

In collaboration with ifs internationale filmschule köln.