Bandar Band

(2020, Manijeh Hekmat, Iran/Germany, 75 mins, in Farsi w/ English subtitles)                                                                                             

Guest: Manijeh Hekmat (director)                                                                                                                                                                  Introduced by: Maryam Zehtabi Sabeti Moqaddam, University of Virginia

“Filmed during the catastrophic floods of 2019 , Bandar Band is a road movie of aspiring musicians journeying across Iran to compete in a talent contest.  Pregnant Mahla along with the other members of Bandar Band, her husband and one of their closest friends, starts her journey to Tehran from a southern province just when they have lost all they had in the flood. They still keep their hopes alive, however every road they take leads to a dead-end in a flood-stricken land. They intend to go to Tehran, but they wonder if it is just another turn around a vicious circle.” (Official website)