Wales One World Film Festival
Gŵyl Ffilm Cymru a'r Byd yn Un

Set against the stunning backdrop of a remote coastal village in Brazil, this is an engagingly episodic, bewitching film that gently contemplates the nature of life and death.

A warm, vivid, touching tale with mysterious supernatural touches this paints a unique portrait of Iranian rural life. Scared and alone, young Bashu runs away from the Iran-Iraq war and fetches up in a little village in the far North where no one can understand him.

A heartfelt, deeply passionate story about the life and times of legendary Australian actor David (Walkabout, Ten Canoes) Gulpilil that makes great use of his extraordinarily expressive face.

A heart warming, Oscar nominated story of a boy from a poor family who is devastated when he loses his sisters beloved pink shoes. Not wanting his parents to find out, he sets out to find, and then try to win, a new pair.

This fascinating portrait of the people who created the many diverse communities that have thrived across Australia over the last 40 years explores the timely Aboriginal concept of ‘Deep Listening’. Beautifully made against the rich diversity of the Australian landscape by the director of Lammas, this explores the interpersonal dynamics of these 'intentional communities'.

Deep Listening - film screening and workshop with Helen Iles (via SKYPE)

at Small World Theatre, Cardigan, 20th February 2016 from 7pm

£7

Exploring the timely Aboriginal concept of Deep Listening, this film is a fascinating portrait of the diverse communities thriving across Australia over 40 years. Beautifully made by the director of Lammas, this film explores the interpersonal dynamics of these ‘intentional communities’. It reveals the importance of taking time to truly listen to one another if we are to learn to live together in harmony. Share the insights of a generation that created an alternative lifestyle based on respect for the land, for the indigenous people and for one another.

Deep Listening Workshop 8.15pm

Led by Helen Iles via SKYPE

Deep Listening inspires contemplation about the value and role of community. Using the film as a tool, the audience is guided through an exercise in “speaking and listening”, taking turns to hear and be heard, to consider ways of being in the land, with ourselves and with each other.

Based on a true story, this riveting tale reveals Ethiopia’s cultural complexity, where traditional customs are pitted against modern ideas of equality. In the beautiful rural Ethiopian landscape, Hirut, a bright 14-year-old girl, is on her way home from school when men on horseback swoop down and kidnap her.

This gripping road movie both explores the disturbing plight of child brides and subtly unveils the connected struggles of generations of women shouldering adversity.

Persian New Year, or Nowruz coincides with the opening weekend of the WOW film festival. Deeply rooted in Zoroastrian traditions, Nowruz, meaning ‘New Day’, has been celebrated for at least 3,000 years to mark the start of Spring.

When we found out that it was actually celebrated for two weeks, it was the perfect excuse to hold a little party in our west Wales home town of Cardigan, on Saturday 28th March.

Here we have Small World Theatre, a sustainable community arts venue resembling of a pagoda, creating the perfect space for a sociable evening involving great food and a great film!

Told in one single stunning shot this gripping film succeeds in ‘unhinging’ time to create a strange, haunting feel to seemingly everyday events. A group of students gather by a remote lake for a camping trip and kite-flying festival.

Quite possibly the most eye poppingly gorgeous film ever made, this sumptuous allegorical tale focuses on an almost extinct nomadic tribe of South Eastern Iran who are famed for their intricately designed Persian "Gabbeh" carpets.

A fascinating portrait of the cultural crisis faced by a middle-class couple trying to lead more Westernised lives while still adhering to traditional Iranian customs and values. Hamoun, a frustrated middle-aged executive, dreams of becoming a writer.

WOW WOMEN’S FILM CLUB

Tuesday 8th December, 10.00am

Chapter Arts Centre

£5.50 / £3.50

Ticket includes film, lunch and crèche

(Free tickets for asylum seekers)

Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Saturday 21 March 2015 from 11am

Day ticket: £20 (£15)

Box Office: 029 2030 4400  www.chapter.org 

WOW Film Festival is celebrating the golden age of Iranian Cinema with a season of magical films from a generation of globally acclaimed Iranian filmmakers. Whilst giving Western audiences an insight into an ancient culture at a time of revolutionary change, the hugely influential Iranian neorealist style that emerged from this period has since had an enduring legacy world wide.

The season begins at Chapter Arts Centre on Nowruz (Iranian New Year), Saturday 21st March. To mark this special date in the Iranian calendar, filmmakers, critics, journalists and audiences will come together for a unique day event and a rare chance to see these great movies on the big screen.  

There will be a panel discussion after each film, chaired by WOW Festival Director David Gillam, who will be joined by Iranian cinema expert Dr Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad from the School of Oriental and African Studies; Dr. Maryam Ghorbankarimi from St Andrews University, who specialises in  Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and gender representation in Iranian film, and Ehsan Khoshbakht, an Iranian film critic, curator and architect.

To book your pass for the Iranian Film Day at Chapter Arts Centre on Saturday 21st March, call 029 2030 4400  or book online here.

Films:

11:30am

Where Is My Friend's Home? (PG)

Director: Abbas Kiarostami

This launched Kiarostami onto the world stage, heralded the arrival of Iranian neo-realism, and set the prototype for Iranian "kid quest" movies. 

“the simplest and most moving of his films.” Combustible Celluloid

2.15pm 

Hamoun (15)

Director: Dariush Mehrjui

A dark comedy-drama about a middle-aged intellectual obsessed with Kierkegaard and J.D. Salinger in the midst of marital meltdown, this will surprise anyone who assumes Iranian society is free of post-modern discontents.

5.30pm

Under The Skin of The City (15) 

Director: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

A mother’s lot is not a happy one in a society where men make all the decisions and women have to suffer the consequences. The first lady of Iranian cinema evocatively captures the human struggle at the heart of a family.

8.30pm

Fish and Cat (15)

Director: Shahram Mokri (2013)

Told in one single stunning shot this gripping film succeeds in ‘unhinging’ time to create a strange, haunting feel to seemingly everyday events.  A truly extraordinary film that plays with our perception of time, space, and truth.

 “something truly special” Andrew Robertson, Eye for Film

Aberystwyth Arts Centre Iranian Film Day, Saturday 21 March

Where is My Friend's Home?, Hamoun and Under the Skin of the City will also be showing at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on the same date and times, with The Apple and Fish and Cat being shown later in the week. The panel discussion with Dr Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad and Dr. Maryam Ghorbankarim will be 'Skyped' to Aberystwyth Arts Centre after each film. Ask the Arts Centre box office about the Iran Season Ticket.

In partnership with British Council Iran as part of their UK-Iran Season of Culture.

Part of Conversations About Cinema's Impact of Conflict Season a Film Audience Network Initiative led by Watershed with QFT and Chapter Arts.

Join the conversation: www.conversationsaboutcinema.co.uk     @ConvoCinema #convocinema

A fabulously beautiful western about the search for a utopia that remains forever out of reach set on the spectacular coast, pampas and deserts of Patagonia. When his 15-year-old daughter Ingeborg elopes with a young soldier, the distraught Captain Dinesen (Viggo Mortenson) embarks on an epic journey across an empty wilderness in the hope of tracking the couple down.

A rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy, Laila leaves her home in Delhi to study in New York, unexpectedly falls in love, and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery. Based on a true story this funky, stereotype-busting, coming-of-age tale is a real joy thanks to Kalki Koechlin’s delightful central performance.

Our Iran Season celebrates the most magical and moving Iranian films of the last thirty years, offering the rare opportunity to experience these beautiful films on the big screen.

Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Rakshan Banietemad, Bahman Ghobadi, Jafar Panahi and Samira Makhmalbaf are among a generation of globally acclaimed Iranian filmmakers who won prizes at festivals across the world.  Their films - Where Is the Friend's Home? (pictured),  Bashu, the Little Stranger, Under the Skin of the City, Hamoun, Gabbeh, The Apple, and Children of Heaven - opened a window on contemporary Iran during a time of great change.  

Whilst revealing social changes in Iran to Western audiences, these films are visually striking, rich in symbolism and full of wonder. The hugely influential Iranian neorealist style has had an enduring legacy, having been adopted by filmmakers around the world.

In partnership with British Council Iran as part of their UK-Iran Season of Culture.

Part of Conversations About Cinema's Impact of Conflict Season a Film Audience Network Initiative led by Watershed with QFT and Chapter Arts.

Join the conversation: www.conversationsaboutcinema.co.uk     @ConvoCinema #convocinema

This exquisite, lyrical, immersive documentary creates a strikingly beautiful portrait of an extraordinary vanishing world.

Like Bombon: El Perro this is a lovely, easy-going, slice-of-life journey round the dusty back roads of the deep South of Argentina. In the wilds of the Patagonian mountains Lila, a headstrong, self-sufficient young girl is determined to find the father she never knew.

The tragedy of the Palestinians encapsulated in the life of one family and one town – Bethlehem. Director Sansour (Jeremy Hardy vs Israeli Army) returns to her home town on a mission to ensure that Bethlehem stays a free and open city.