ACF
Asian Cinema Fund
Asian Network of Documentary(AND) Fund
2009 Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund
LIST Amin
| Category | DongSeo Asia Fund |
|---|---|
| Project | Amin |
| Director | Shahin PARHAMI |
| Country | Iran |
| Director's Profile | Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Shahin Parhami was born in Shiraz, Iran. After his arrival in Canada in 1988, he quickly became an active writer of poetry and essays for local Iranian-Canadian publications on arts and culture. His appetite for the moving image later inspired him to pursue his studies in film and production first at Ottawa’s Carleton University, and later at Concordia University in Montreal. Parhami directed his first movie [Nasoot] (1997), which was screened at many film festivals. His latest production [Faces (Chehre-ha)] (2007), premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival and won the best feature film award at the Cinewest Experimental Film Festival (FLEXIFF) 2007 (Sydney, Australia). Shahin Parhami is the mastermind behind all his work, producing his own films and responsible for all creative elements. |
- Synopsis
- The Qashqai are a nomadic tribe that lives in southern Iran. They have a distinctive language, culture and artistic tradition that are being eroded by the pressures of fast modernization and urbanization. This is the story of an ancient musical tradition and one man’s struggle to preserve it. Amin is the name of a young Qashqai violinist who has dedicated his life to preserving, documenting and teaching the unique musical tradition of his people, a tradition on the verge of extinction. His nomadic family is selling their meager belongings to help support their son’s education in performance and ethnomusicology at Tchaikovsky’s Conservatory in Kiev, Ukraine, but it is not enough. Amin, desperate to finish his university education, sells his best violins one at a time just to pay for his tuition.
- Director's Note
- This film is my contribution to the preservation of the ancient, unique musical tradition of the Qashqai, a nomadic people who live in the south of Iran. Across Asia, people trying to maintain traditional lifestyles are being pushed to the brink of extinction as their youth abandon the old ways and head for life in big cities. The Qashqai are just such a people, and Amin, the violinist who is the principal subject of this documentary, a rare example of a young man who seeks to preserve and maintain his culture rather than to abandon it. I believe that exposing the magnificent music of the Qashqais to the world through the medium of film will create a new interest in the culture, both among international communities and critically, within Iran itself.
- Festivals
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2010 Busan International Film Festival - Wide Angle
2010 Dubai International Film Festival
2010 Taiwan International documentary Festival - ASIA VISION & AND Merit Prize
2011 Salaya International Documentary Film Festival - AND Showcase
2011 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
2011 Moscow International Film Festival - Russian Trace
2011 Montreal World Film Festival
- Still Cut
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