In 1960’s Tehran, Tayi marries a photograph of Hossein on the day of their wedding. This is where director Firouzeh Khosrovani chose to begin her parents’ love story. Hossein, a secular progressive studying Radiology in Switzerland, invites his bride, Tayi, a traditional Muslim, to live with him in Switzerland. Tayi agrees, but soon feels her Islamic identity being eroded by life in Switzerland. When Tayi discovers she is pregnant with their daughter, Firouzeh, she convinces her husband to take the family back to Tehran where Tayi can be close to her family. The dynamic between the couple changes as the Islamic Revolution begins to take hold in Iran. Tayi finds purpose and meaning in the intensifying revolution, disrupting their family life. While Hossein and Tayi’s marriage heaves and buckles with the social and political changes rippling through Iran, little Firouzeh is stuck between the opposing ideologies of her parents, trying to reconcile the two worlds in which her parents live, and seeking love from both. RADIOGRAPH OF A FAMILY is a beautiful hybrid film that is deeply personal, sensitive and poignant. The film is a tender poem Khosrovani wrote for her parents, letting the story unfold through recollections of her own childhood and scripted conversations between her parents; interwoven with archival footage, family photos and letters, Khosrovani gently holds the viewer’s hand through the emotional and mesmerizing story of one Iranian family. — Jing Yang, Features Programmer
*Single-film ticket purchases begin June 4. Virtual film screenings are only available for Texas viewers.
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Firouzeh Khosrovani
PRODUCERS: Fabien Olivier Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mohammad Reza Jahanpanah
EDITORS: Farahnaz Sharifi, Jila Ipakchi, Rainer M. Trinkler
MUSIC: Peyman Yazdanian
LENGTH: 82 min
LANGUAGES: Persian and French with English subtitles
COUNTRY: Norway | Iran | Switzerland
GENRE: Documentary
ACCOLADES / FESTIVALS
2020 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam | Best Feature-Length Documentary, Best Creative Use of Archive
2020 Oslo Films from the South Festival | Audience Award
2021 FIPADOC Festival
2021 Göteborg Film Festival
2021 Sofia International Film Festival
2021 Hong Kong International Film Festival
2021 Jeonju International Film Festival
2021 New Directors/New Films
2021 DocLands Documentary Film Festival