Post-Revolution Iran Film Series:
“A Moment of Innocence” by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Please join us for the second session in this film series – a screening of “A Moment of Innocence” by Mohsen Makhmalbaf; followed by a discussion, led by Dr. Shahram Tabe.
About “A Moment of Innocence”
A Moment of Innocence (1996) is directed by Mohsen Makhmahlbaf, who, as a teenager, stabbed a policeman during a protest rally. Decades later, Makhmahlbaf contacted the policeman in an attempt to make a film about the stabbing. A Moment of Innocence is a dramatization of that event.
This moving film is an example of docufiction: a hybrid of fact and fiction in which the actors play themselves in a staged reenactment of a real historical event. Docufiction is a hallmark of post-revolutionary Iranian filmmaking, and Makhmahlbaf is one of its most celebrated and influential figures.
Although banned in Iran, the film has been a great success internationally, and has appeared on Sight and Sound’s list of the greatest films of all time.
Dr. Shahram Tabe is a prominent film critic and founding director of the Diaspora Film Festival in Toronto. He teaches international cinema at the Toronto Film School and is also a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Toronto. Recipient of the National Ethnic Media Award, he has published more than 300 articles on cinema, arts, and culture in Canada, Europe, and Iran and has frequently appeared on radio and TV programs. He has been a jury member at the PanAzorean Film Festival, Portugal. Shahram is also a sought-after speaker and consultant on Iranian and diaspora cinemas for academic and arts institutions such as Toronto International Film Festival, York and Ryerson Universities, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Date: Saturday May 11, 2019
Time: 2:00 pm
Location: Auditorium, Noor Cultural Centre
Admission: General – $10; Unwaged/student – $5
For more information about the series – including the films and their screening dates – please click here.
This series is curated by Daniel Davidson-Kalmar, who holds a Master’s Degree in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto. Within his general interest in international film, he has a particular passion for Iranian cinema.