September 27-2013
A half-century-old forgotten film about drugs from Iran—written by the James Bond author and featuring a passel of major Western stars from the 1950s and 1960s—will be seen at this week’s Iranian Film Festival in San Francisco.
The 6th annual Iranian Film Festival is being held Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco, featuring films either made by Iranians about any topic or by anyone about Iran.
This year the festival will bring together films from 11 countries: Iran, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Spain, France, USA, Sweden, Afghanistan, Canada, and Australia.
The festival includes an Iranian-made film that had been lost almost a half century. “Rounama,” made in 1971, is about a traditional wedding ceremony. It has never been shown in public. The festival has restored the film to its original condition after 40 years. This film will be shown Sunday, September 29.
Another discovery is titled “Poppy is Also a Flower,” which was made in 1966 in Iran under the title “Gole e Shitan.” It has a remarkable international cast including Yul Brynner, Marcello Mastroianni, Grace Kelly and Rita Hayworth. This film will be shown Saturday, September 28.
The story is set in Iran and opens as an American undercover agent is murdered in the desert while attempting to track down opium smugglers. Two more agents are sent to Tehran to investigate the death and stop the powerful drug ring behind the smuggling.
To figure out where the drugs are going, they lace some opium with radioactive tracers so they can track it with Geiger counters. They then follow the drugs as they are slowly dispersed throughout Europe. After many twists, turns and blind alleys, the agents eventually succeed.
This film contains cameos from many stars who worked for little pay because they strongly supported its anti-drug message. Grace Kelly introduces the film. Other stars appearing include: Yul Brynner, Omar Sharif, Angie Dickinson, Marcello Mastroianni and Rita Hayworth.
The original story was written by Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond books.
Golshifteh Farahani’s latest film, “Just Like a Woman,” will also be screened. It is about two women in unhappy marriages who embark on a journey of self-discovery. This film will be shown Sunday, September 29.
Altogether, the festival will screen 11 feature length films and many shorts over two days.
Full details on all the films, schedules and ticket prices are available at www.IranianFilmFestival.org. The films will be shown at the San Francisco Art Institute at 800 Chestnut Street in San Francisco.