Film Details

In Abbas Kiarostami’s unique study of spectatorship, the expressive faces of over 100 prominent Iranian actresses (and France’s Juliette Binoche) react to a narrated film based on the 800-year-old Persian love story of Princess Shirin. Or so it seems. In reality, Kiarostami shot the actresses as they peered at a piece of cardboard and followed his instructions to recall past loves and emote. He later married their expressions to the non-existent movie we hear but never see. “[Recalls] the aesthetic and emotional candor of Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc.” –Time Out Film Guide. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 97 min.