Teen Dox

Starless Dreams

Mehrdad Oskouei
Screening time  
28.02. / Tuesday, 18:00 - 20:00 Theatre 1  
05.03. / Sunday, 12:00 - 14:00 Theatre 4  
05.03. / Sunday, 20:00 - 22:00 Theatre 5  
05.03. / Sunday, 22:00 - 00:00 Theatre 2  
A look inside of an Iranian centre of correction and rehabilitation. We meet friendly, warm young girls who laugh, sing and cry together. They all ended up there after becoming involved in crime.

Heavy snow falls from the sky as heavily-armed guards patrol the walls of an Iranian centre of correction and rehabilitation. Inside, the girls are waiting at the food counter. Among them are underage mothers and others who are married. All of them ended up here after becoming involved in crime. Drug dealing, assault, murder. Yet instead of cold-blooded criminals we discover friendly, warm young people who laugh, sing and cry together. Their close bonds have been forged by the troubled past they share. We learn of their fears of having to return to the lives they once left behind. The documental camera is intimate but respectful, the resulting portraits are full of dignity.

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Mehrdad Oskouei

Mehrdad Oskouei is an Iranian filmmaker, producer, photographer and researcher born in 1969 in Tehran. He studied film direction at the University of Arts. His films have been screened at numerous festivals both at home and abroad to great critical acclaim, making him one of the major Iranian documentary makers. In 2010, Oskouei received the Dutch Prince Claus Award for his achievements. He is a founding member of the Institute of Anthropology and Culture and has sat on several international film festival juries, as well as being a cultural ambassador for the United Nation's humanitarian committee UCHA. He also teaches at film schools around Iran and is active in the Tehran Arts and Culture Association. His film The Last Days of Winter was released in France in 2013 to both critical and public acclaim. His film Starless Dreams was screened at 2016 ZagrebDox.

General sponsor

Royahaye Dame Sobh

Iran
2016, 76'

Directed by:
Mehrdad Oskouei

Screenplay by:
Mehrdad Oskouei

Cinematography:
Mohammad Hadadi

Edited by:
Amir Adibparvar

Music:
Afshin Azizi

Producer:
Mehrdad Oskouei

Produced by:
Oskouei Film Production

Festivals & Awards:

Berlin International Film Festival 2016 – Amnesty International Film Prize; Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2016 – Inspiration Award Best Documentary, Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award; International Documentary Association 2016 – Pare Lorentz Award; London Film Festival 2016 – Grierson Award; True/False Film Fest 2016 – True Vision Award; International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF 2016 – Best Photography Award, Women Special Prize, Grand Prix; Sneakers Film Festival for Children&Youth 2016  – Special Mention Youth’s Jury Award; FEST – New Directors/New Films Festival 2016 – Honorable Mention; Cineuropa Audience Award; DokuFest 2016 – Special Mention Human Rights Award; International Film Festival Message to Man 2016 – Full-length Documentary Film Award; Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2016 – Best International Documentary; Antenna Documentary Festival 2016 – Special Jury Award; Jean Rouch International Film Festival 2016 – Grand Prix Nanook – Jean Rouch; Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2016 – Best Documentary Feature Award