قاب‌هایی برای روز نو

Presented by Room for Doubt and Afsun Moshiry

At a time when television did not yet exist largely and cinema was a popular cultural space, Nowrouz traditionally marked a peak moment for collective film viewing. The two weeks of Nowrouz celebrations were among the most important periods for film exhibition, and many films were deliberately released to coincide with the New Year, when audiences were most receptive and cinemas were at their fullest.

Increasing censorship and political control interrupted the organic development of Iranian cinema, while the dominance of post-revolutionary commercial productions reshaped the film culture that had before 1979 been shaped by popular entertainment cinema known as Filmfarsi. Over time, the deep social and cultural significance of cinema during Nowrouz faded, and what had once been a shared ritual of reflection and collective imagination lost much of its public presence.

With the event “FRAMES FOR A NEW DAY”, we seek to reconnect with this history and to revive the spirit of cinema as a collective experience on the first day of Nowrouz. The evening is conceived as a celebration of cinematic resilience and of the enduring hope that persists despite repression, violence, and ongoing political trauma. It is an affirmation of societies that continue to imagine, to resist, and to hold on to values, refusing to let freedom be erased.

This resilience finds a powerful parallel in the life and work of Nasser Taghvai, whose cinema consistently stood firm in its ethical, artistic, and social convictions. Taghvai’s films embody a commitment to integrity. Unruled Paper offers a feminist perspective centered on a woman determined to become a writer. It speaks of persistence, agency, and moral courage at a time when writers and intellectuals were systematically targeted and killed during the chain murders. The protagonist’s struggle echoes a broader collective one: the resolve of Iranian society to remain faithful to its principles, to continue speaking, creating, and standing up for deeply held beliefs despite repression.

The programme continues in the foyer with a contribution by Room for Doubt: a performance by Sin Seeni titled Alas for Freedom, followed by a gathering around poetry fragments selected by Ramona Rahimi coming together around a ceremonial Kurdish Nowruz fire, a symbol of renewal, resilience, and collective continuity in times of war. (Afsun Moshiry)

Afsun Moshiry is a film curator, programmer, and creative producer born in Shiraz and raised in Mannheim, based in Berlin. She has curated film programs for the Berliner Festspiele and the Akademie der Künste, and was a permanent member of the selection committee at the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, where she also headed the Dokfest Campus. Currently part of the Berlinale Forum team, she also works as a producer at Road River Films and serves as artistic director of Interfilm's Script Pitch & Lab. She is also part of the Cinema-ye Azad archive project.

Room For Doubt is a mobile project space dedicated to contemporary arts, artistic exchanges, and debates. Due to its nomadic nature, Room For Doubt will organize various events such as open studios, artist talks, screenings, and performances in multiple venues as an artist-run non-commercial collective. It aims at creating visibility and a network for creators and artists from the Global South and marginally neglected communities without falling into the frames defined by the art institutions and funders with various agendas as a grassroots initiative by artists for artists.

SIN SEENI is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist living and working in Berlin. His work is often layered, combining various forms of media. Language plays a crucial role in his art, as he aims to communicate conceptual ideas through linguistic elements. In other words, he seeks to engage with the Language and Art movement, connecting this significant theme to contemporary media and tools. Some of the language-focused aspects of his works give them a literary and linguistic quality, which transforms their function by distorting signs.

Ramona Rahimi studied German Literature and Philosophy and has a background in socially engaged art. Her interests lie in multidisciplinary artistic practices that explore how ideas move between different cultural and, consequently, political frameworks. She is particularly interested in how artistic approaches can create spaces for collectively rethinking and reconnecting social values across diverse media.

کاغذ بی‌خط  (Unruled Paper)
Nasser Taghvai, Iran, 90 min. 2022, Farsi with English subtitles

Followed by a talk with Marzieh Vafamehr and Afsun Moshiry.

Unruled Paper follows Roya, a woman determined to become a writer while navigating the constraints of marriage, domestic expectations, and a society marked by intellectual repression. Set against the backdrop of the period of the chain murders in Iran, the film subtly reflects on creativity, censorship, and the moral courage required to insist on one’s voice. Through an intimate, feminist lens, Taghvai portrays both personal and collective resilience in a time of political pressure. (Afsun Moshiry)

Marzieh Vafamehr is an Iranian actress, independent filmmaker, and women’s rights activist based in Tehran. She was sentenced to one year in prison for her role in My Tehran for Sale with her appearance without a headscarf, a shaved head, and scenes simulating alcohol consumption. The widow of director Nasser Taghvai, Vafamehr has also directed several short films, including Nabat, Wind – Ten Years Old, and Hello, Good Morning. Her case became emblematic of the pressures faced by artists in Iran and has been widely cited in discussions on artistic freedom and gender-based restrictions in the country.