Voices, aspirations and contradictions of contemporary Iran through the lens of the nearly undocumented world of Zurkhaneh, the ancient Iranian gymnasia where traditional martial arts and music merge. Based on three years of ethnographic research, the film journeys from the Iranian diaspora in Canada, across urban Iran, to the first international Zurkhaneh Olympic tournament in South Korea. Music and martial arts performances are woven into encounters with vivid human experiences as athletes, musicians and experts reveal a variety of subjectivities within the religious, ethical and social world of Zurkhaneh. What emerges is the integration, and also the tension, between the ethical and competitive aspects of Iranian martial arts, between Sufi-inspired mysticism and the modernist fundamentalism of post-revolutionary Iran, between grassroots community engagement and Olympic aspirations.
Country: Italia, Canada
Year: 2011
Running time: 100'
Format: DCP, Blu-ray, File HD, DVD
Language: v. o.
Subtitles: italiano, inglese, persiano
Genre: documentary
Screenplay: Federico Spinetti
Cinematography: Federico Spinetti, Grant Wang
Editing: Alberto Valtellina
Music: Giuliano Belotti, ‘Ali Reza Hojjati, Jamshid Tabardaran, Mehregan Gerami Haqiqi, Mohammad Aramesh, Hossein Ganjgani, Faramarz Najafi Tehrani, Ghasem Ghasemi, Morshed Karegar, Abbas Akhundi, Ehsan Golchin, Mustafa Abbaszadeh, Sirvan Nowruzi, Seyed Ataollah Salamiyeh, ‘Ali Najafi
With: Morshed ‘Ali Reza Hojjati, Morshed Ehsan Golchin, Farhad Tulukyan, Morshed Faramarz Najafi Tehrani, Hadi Mahmudi, Reza Lavasani, Hamid Reza Ardalan, Morshed Mehregan Gerami Haqiqi, Sasan Fatemi, Hayediye Seirafi, Mitra Ruhi Dehkordi, Morshed Murtaza Namayandeh, Morshed Sirvan Nowruzi, Seyed Amir Hosseini
Festival: San Francisco Iranian Film Festival, Intimalente, Festival di film etnografici di Caserta 2012 (Menzione speciale della giuria)
