Sepideh Farsi - Villa Albertine

Cinema

New York

“A film project about two prominent women figures, not only in the Iranian spectrum, but also on the international scene. One for having been part of the international socialism, having lived through several uprisings and combats in Venezuela, Cuba, Algeria and finally Iran, and the other, for having been one of the last living queens.”

Who?

Arriving in Paris in 1984 at the age of 18, I studied maths while practising B&W photography, then taught math for several years, before branching out into film in the mid-90s. Since then, I’ve worked in just about every film format there is, including animation, directing LA SIRENE (opening film at Berlinale 2023 – Competition at Annecy). For me, art and commitment often overlap.

Born in Tehran in 1965, Sepideh Farsi started photographing political protests at a young age before discovering cinema at 16 and deciding to make films. The same year, she was arrested and spent nearly a year in prison. Upon her release, she was banned from university and lost her rights. She had to leave the country to pursue her studies and moved to Paris in 1984. After studying mathematics and spending several years in photography, she returned to her love of cinema and began making art videos, documentaries, and feature films selected for Locarno, Rotterdam, and Toronto, and awarded at many festivals worldwide. Her films include Téhéran sans autorisation, Red Rose, 7 Voiles, and Harat. An engaged artist, Sepideh Farsi has filmed her works in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Greece, and France. Her latest film, LA SIRENE, is an animated feature, an anti-war manifesto (opening film of the Panorama section at Berlinale 2023 and competition at the Annecy Festival). She is currently developing Torrents de vie, her next feature film project (a residency project at Villa Albertine), as well as her first graphic novel (which will later be adapted for screen) Mémoires d’une jeune fille pas rangée, inspired by her own life.

What?

The phone rang one day in spring 2017, and I learnt that Vida, had had a brain stroke and was in the coma. She never opened her eyes. She was almost 80 when she passed away, and with her, an important figure of the Iranian feminist-left-activism disappeared in the months that followed her loss. I was obsessed by her past and delved into her books (3 volumes, 2 of her prison memories and one about her life) and discovered the story of her friendship with the queen of Iran, Farah Diba-Pahlavi. They had been the closest friends during their student years in Paris in the 50’s. That’s how “Torrents of life” sparkled. A film project about two prominent women figures, not only in the Iranian spectrum, but also on the international scene. One for having been part of the international socialism, having lived through several uprisings and combats in Venezuela, Cuba, Algeria and finally Iran, and the other, for having been one of the last living queens. And about their long-lasting friendship, having started in Paris, where both of them landed once in exile, after having fled the new Iranian regime.

Where?

When the Iranian Royal family fled Iran in Jan 79, they had to cross several countries amongst which

Panama, USA, Morroco, before ending up in Cairo (Egypt), where the Shah who suffered from a cancer, passed away. The episode when he was hospitalized in New York is of high importance, since they were running a high risk of being turned over to the Iranian regime and had to flee once more. Ever since, part of the royal family, and many of the closer circle of the royal family, live in the USA. The goal of my residency would be to visit the New York Hospital and the places they spent time in, during those stays, and to meet a number of the people who lived through that period with them, or who have done research on the subject.

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