Sam's Duty

Death of Yazdgerd(fa)

Bahram Beyzai's poetic imagining of the circumstances that led to the death of Yazdgerd III, the last of the Sassanid kings of Iran. His death in 651, during the Arab invasions that brought Islam to this Zoroastrian realm, was mysterious: his corpse was discovered in a mill, but the cause of his death—and the whereabouts of his remains—are unknown.

Prince Ehtejab(fa)

Prince Ehtejab, one of the last remaining heirs of the Qajar royal family, is suffering from tuberculosis, which he knows is fatal. He spends his last days alone in the magnificent rooms of his wintry palace, from where he recollects the glory days of his ancestors as well as days of degradation. Among the latter are the gruesome manner in which his cruel grandfather murdered his mother and brother, and the way that he himself caused the death of his wife.

Desert Dancer(en)

Inspirational true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life for his dream to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban.

The Bright Day(fa)

THE BRIGHT DAY weaves a story that has its roots in the complexity of Iran’s draconian laws governing capital punishment. A kindergarten teacher hopes to aid the father of one of her young students, a man accused of manslaughter, by convincing each of seven reluctant witnesses to come forward. No one lacks a hidden agenda in this drama in which shades of truth collide with self-interest and the specter of payback. (Gene Siskel Film Center)

Nudes in Limbo(en)

The video is a series of short pieces of very buff nude people. The models don't speak, and the backgrounds are solid colors, with no decorations to let you know where the models are. So these nudes are, if not truly in limbo, certainly no place you can describe. In each short piece, the model is/models are performing some G-rated activity that shows off their body: a gymnast man works out on the hanging rings, two women hold in front of them a gauzy cloth that is being blown by an off-camera fan, a blonde runs a fluorescent tube down the length of her body, etc.

Wedlock(fa)

The renovation of a rambling family homestead becomes a metaphor for an unexpected assault on traditional family values when a newly married twenty-something brings her architect husband to draw up the plans for her aunt and uncle’s rehab job.

Dowry's Sugar Bowl(fa)

Ata and Masoumeh are living in a rented house. Their lease time is over and they can not pay the rent added. But they like to stay and live in this house...

The Twilight Hour(fa)

Sohrab, a young Iranian soldier, finds himself face-to-face with his fellow citizens during a demonstration.

House of Sand and Fog(en)

Behrani, an Iranian immigrant buys a California bungalow, thinking he can fix it up, sell it again, and make enough money to send his son to college. However, the house is the legal property of former drug addict Kathy. After losing the house in an unfair legal dispute with the county, she is left with nowhere to go. Wanting her house back, she hires a lawyer and befriends a police officer. Neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, so they find themselves involved in a difficult moral dilemma.

Sine-chak(fa)

Morteza loves Zari but Zari's bankrupt father agrees to wed her to a wealthy man who will pay all his debts. Zari suicides in the night of the wedding and Morteza leaves the city (Jahrom) ...

Holy Spider(fa)

A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

Blows of Wind(en)

You're waiting,aren't you?

Tambourine(fa)

Mohammad is sent to an apartment situated in uptown Tehran to install their satellite dishes, while having satellite TV is illegal in Iran. He arrives there with a girl named Shirin who seems to be his girlfriend and is in need of some money to repair her father's car with which she has had an accident the day before. Each of the house's residents have their own fish to fry and they also want their satellites installed as soon as possible.

Wooden Bridge(fa)

It is about life of a young couple who want to migrate from their country. But the arrival of Nazli makes problems...

Naghshe Negar(fa)

The Corridor(fa)

Behzad, who has been in prison for manslaughter for a long time, has a son who does not know about him. When he is introduced, the son goes through a conflict. Then, as a family, they go to the victim's family seeking consent so Reza would be released.

The Mongols(fa)

A director of a television series on the history of cinema, who has been grappling with the screenplay of his first feature film, receives an assignment to oversee the installation of a television relay station in a remote region of Zahedan province. He has already hired Turkmen tribespeople for his film and selected his filming location. Meanwhile his wife, who is working on her Ph.D. dissertation about the Mongol invasion of Iran, attempts to dissuade him from accepting the assignment. One night, while working on his history of the cinema series, the director fantasizes a diegetic world that consists of clever juxtapositions of his different worlds: the history of cinema, the history of the mongol invasion, his own film idea and his imminent assignment to the desert.

Mohagh(en)

A woman attempts to obtain the consent of the victim's family to release her husband from the death penalty, meanwhile, the husband is suffering from brain death.

Kandahar(en)

After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.

Blackboards(fa)

Itinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a group of old men looking for their bombed-out village; he offers to guide them, and takes as his wife Halaleh, the clan's lone woman, a widow with a young son. Reeboir attaches himself to a dozen pre-teen boys weighed down by contraband they carry across the border; they're mules, always on the move. Said and Reeboir try to teach as their potential students keep walking. Danger is close; armed soldiers patrol the skies, the roads, and the border. Is there a role for a teacher? Is there hope?

Faraway(fa)

Siavash Shahabi film made in 2011.

Best of Video Track 77 & 78(en)

Highland Sunset and a final look at Class 37s on the West Highland Line to Fort William before the introduction of Class 66s. Crewe Open Weekend with a tour of Crewe Works during the open weekend of the 20th and 21st of May with a variety of traction plus coverage of specials to the event with 33 and 37 hauage. Class 58 Profile with only half of the original class still in action we take a look at the class from the 1980s to the present day. Devon Contrasts and Class 67 and 47 motive power along the famous stretch of sea wall from Starcross to Dawlish.

Lyvia's House(en)

When a young journalist suspects the disappearance of a beautiful artist is connected to murders that took place 20 years earlier, she uncovers a reality she never could have imagined. Inspired by true events.

A-Lad-In Bagdad(en)

Hayseed Egghead arrives in the big city of Bagdad and quickly wins a magic lamp in a carnival coin-operated crane game. The shady character who was playing the game before him covets the lamp, and tries to steal it. Egghead sees a poster: The sultan is having a contest for his daughter's hand in marriage. With his lamp, Egghead thinks he's a sure bet; he conjures up a magic carpet, and he's off. After a couple bad vaudeville acts, it's Egghead's turn, but in the meantime, the bad guy swapped the lamp for a coffeepot. Egghead is thrown out, then sees the bad guy using the lamp; Egghead breaks in, steals the lamp and the girl, and flies off. But she uses the lamp herself to conjure up a real hunk to replace the nerdy Egghead.

O Amanhã Será Melhor(pt)

The ups and downs in the lives of immigrants from post-war Europe, arriving in Brazil in search of a better future.

Unit Eleven(en)

In the year 2035, survivors of a now almost completely evacuated post-apocalyptic Britain compete for a government bounty to retrieve a mysterious bio weapon known only as Unit Eleven.

The Moosehead Chronicles: Fate of the Moosehead(en)

Join King Andreas and friends as they search to know how to handle their newfound power. What will become of the Moosehead on stick?

왕초와 용가리(ko)

Uncanny Stories(fr)

“Uncanny Stories” is a horror anthology of short stories from famous writers adapted in animation by directors who are mad about genre films. The works of Laura Kasischke, H.P. Lovecraft and Jean Ray alongside the Brothers Grimm, William Tenn and Edgar Allan Poe all haunt the screen in a world of horror, fear and angst. You’ll encounter a young girl who hates her stepmother so much she wants her dead, two young hikers who cross paths with a strange old woman, an explorer trapped by terrifying forces from a distant past, a man driving down a country lane on a rainy night, an endless nightmare, a lighthouse in a storm. Transgressive and poignant stories that tap into your innermost fears.

Aaja Sanam(hi)

Dr. Satish travels from the big city to a small village, where he can serve the poor who cannot afford to go to the city for medical treatment. Once in the village, he meets with Shanti, who lives with her dad, Radhekiran, a watchman. Both Shanti and Satish fall in love, and exchange vows to be married. Radhekiran has an accident, and dies, leaving Shanti to re-locate, without notifying Satish. Satish is devastated at losing Shanti, and tries to locate her, to no avail. His parents want him to marry Kamini, and he agrees to do so. It is then he comes across Shanti, and he is shocked to see that Shanti has given birth to baby-boy, but will not disclose who the father is.

Where You Are(en)

When Jen's son disappears during a game of hide-and-seek she unwittingly embarks on a journey through time to find him.

O Mistério do Samba(pt)

A film that depicts the everyday life and the beauty of Portela’s Old Folk – a group of veteran samba musicians who belong to one of Rio’s most revered samba schools, the one with the most first places and accolades in Rio’s Carnaval pageant. These old gentelmen’s and ladies’ musicality and poetry are unveiled through their simple, but rich and meaningful, every day life in Oswaldo Cruz, a quaint neighborhood in Rio’s North Zone, that serves both as set and as a main character in this story.

Jennifer on My Mind(en)

Two rich American young adults who meet and fall in love in Venice, Italy. With plenty of money and no real responsibilities or direction in life, the couple begin experimenting with illicit drugs. The movie travels through a series of flashbacks showing their progression from marijuana to harder drugs as a result of their complex romantic entanglement with each other.

Living Distance(en)

Living Distance is a fantasy and a mission, in which a wisdom tooth is sent to outer space and back down to Earth again. Propelled by a crystalline robotic sculpture called EBIFA, the tooth becomes a newborn entity in outer space. Its performance is about death, body, and home, in a world where our science exploration and spiritual journeys are diverging.

L'amore e la guerra(it)

World War I (1914-1918) In the trenches del Carpio, the fate of two people forever changed when known. Mario is a humble miner to whom war has become infantry sergeant, and Albertina is a duchess who has decided to help his country enlisting as a nurse. The love that arises between them will have to face the horrors of war and wishes to marry Captain Avogardo Albertina.

Il gèle en enfer(fr)

Based on Elliott Chaze's "Black Wings Has My Angel", the film tells a story of (nudist) gangsters on a coup and on the run