The Siren

Sepideh Farsi / Feature Fiction, Animation / France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium / Farsi / 100:00 / 2023

7th March 2024 | 6.30 pm | Opening ceremony followed by screening of the film | CD Deshmukh Auditorium

1980, Abadan. The capital of the Iranian oil industry is resisting an Iraqi siege. Fourteen-year-old Omid has braved the siege and stayed in the city with his grandfather, waiting for his elder brother to return from the front line. Along with Omid, a gallery of unusual characters have all remained in the city for their own reasons, and each resists in his or her own way. But the noose is tightening as Omid tries to save his loved ones, by embarking them on an abandoned boat he finds in Abadan’s port, which will become his ark.

Directors’ bio:

Born in Tehran, Iran, Sepideh Farsi moved to Paris to study mathematics but soon turned her focus to filmmaking. After making several short films, in 2001 she directed the documentary “Homi D. Sethna, Filmmaker” which won several awards. Her documentaries Harat and Tehran Without Permission both premiered at Locarno, her first two feature films Dreams of Dust and The Gaze at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The House Under the Water won the NETPAC Award; her most recent documentary 7 voiles received the Grand Prix of the French Competition at the International Film Festival Marseille.