Dystopian Pasts

From an oil metaphor, a surreal narrative experiment develops, the portrait of a country in which everything – people, animals, homes – is off-kilter. At breakfast, the chairs and tables begin to shake. Part of the roof caves in during a tremor, the cause of which remains unclear. The inhabitants of the building go back to their daily routines, but the aftershocks persist. Everybody wants to leave the country, including the Afghan man who helps out in the household of Foziye and her sister. A feeling of paranoia emanates from the images. With the Afghan’s help, Foziye and her relatives hide in the countryside from the unknown. Fear and uncertainty, leading to a feeling of distrust within a community forced to share a common fate. Chaos runs its course.

 

Suzan Iravanian was born in 1985 in Shiraz, Iran. She holds a B.A. in Art and Architecture from Shiraz Art and Architecture university and also received an M.A. in filmmaking from New York Film Academy in 2009 and an M.A. in Cult Film & Television from Brunel University in 2012. Since 2009, Iravanian has been involved in writing short stories. She wrote Nasht for her Oxford creative writing course and started to turn it into a film project shortly after. Nasht premiered in 2019 at Berlinale Forum Section. Besides being a filmmaker, Iravanian works as a photographer and graphic designer.