The Gardener The Baha’i faith is explored by Iranian father-son filmmakers Mohsen and Maysam Makhmalbaf
BUSAN — The Gardener marks the first time in decades — perhaps since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 — that an Iranian filmmaker has shot a movie in Israel, and what it has to say about religion and world peace is as radical a statement as unconventional filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf (The Bicyclist, Kandahar) has ever made. Filmed amid the extravagant colors of nature at the Baha’i world headquarters in Haifa, Mohsen and his cameraman-son Maysam Makhmalbaf amicably debate the role of religion in life and war in an engaging, good-humored introduction to the Baha’i Faith. The deep spirituality it discusses so intelligently will appeal to open-minded viewers and should reach beyond festivals via culture channels.
Iranian Taboo – Iranian Taboo tells the harrowing story of Baha’i woman Nadereh and her 14-year-old daughter who decide to sell all their belongings and leave their home in Isfahan to take refuge in the west. The film takes us across continents from Turkey to Israel and from the USA to Iran. We are given unique insights – from the underground Baha’i university (BIHE) to Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, from the suppressed Baha’i peasants of the Ivel village in the northern province of Mazanraran to Abolhassan Banisadr, 1st president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.—Reza Allamehzadeh