MAY 12 to 14
(Film)  SANTOURI (THE MUSIC MAN)

Mon: 9:30pm, Tues: 7:15pm, Weds: 9:30pm

IRAN 2007 // Director: Dariush Mehrjui // 106 min // 35mm

Ticket info:  http://www.vifc.org/media/print/voiceprint.html

VANCOUVER PREMIERE

"On his way to becoming the Grand Old Man of Iranian cinema, something interesting has happened to 
Dariush Mehrjui. From his stunning 1969 sophomore feature, The Cow (the first modern Iranian film to 
reach Western audiences), to The Postman (1972) and The Cycle (1974), Mehrjui was filmmaker enemy 
No. 1 of the shah's censors, and deeply influential on the generation of filmmakers that came of age after 
the Islamist revolution.

Following a fine series of mostly conventionally made films about women, Dariush Mehrjui's latest, 
Santouri (The Music Man), shows that he's absorbed the influences of the youngsters in its story about 
Ali (Bahram Radan), a popular singer-songwriter and player of the santoor (an ancient stringed instrument 
played with two small mallets) and the emotional and physical price he pays for his heroin addiction. 

There's a loose, fluid rhythm that courses through the film like an elixir, especially in the freeform way 
Mehrjui shifts between Ali's devastating downward course—set off when he is banned by authorities from 
playing in public—and his happier past... 

Far from serving as some sort of screed against the excesses of a younger generation of artists, Santouri 
suggests that Iran's current cultural repression and rampant drug addiction are no mere coincidence. "
— Robert Koehler, LA Weekly 

"Despite the fact that Iranian cinema prohibits touching or any intimate moments between man and a woman, 
the director uses his creative mind to portray situations in which we can still experience their relationship. 
Through their laughs, music, eyes, and their quirky rituals, the audiece can feel the love and chemistry 
between these two characters. And as always, Mehrjui brings depth and dramatic story telling to his films.

With a long list of stunning films in his resume, Mehrjui has been the most influential Iranian director for 
the past four decades. He is the first director in the history of Iranian cinema to bring out complex characters 
to his female subjects. 

Prior to Mehrjui, Iranian women were always portrayed as one-dimensional characters, but Mehrjui brought 
life to his female characters and brought us exquisite films like: Pari, Leila, Hamoun and the unforgettable 
Derakhte Golabi with leading female characters that are multifaceted and complex. Undeniably, Mehrjui is 
one of the great directors with his traditional poetic style and strong sense of consciousness and reality." 
— Katayoun Arfrooz, Cinema Without Borders

"Santouri is a witty, powerful, and honest drama that demands your compassion."— Cinema Without Borders