Asian Cinema Fund

ACF Asian Cinema Fund

Post-Production Fund

2012 Post-Production Fund

LIST The Gardener

Category	Asian Project
Project	The Gardener
Director	Mohsen MAKHMALBAF
Country	Iran
Director's Profile	MAKHMALBAF is a literary and fiction writer, and a film director, who has published twenty-seven books and directed eighteen feature films, three documentaries and four short films. His has filmed in six different countries: Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, Tajikistan and India. His works often deal with a man’s agonies and dreams. In 2010 he received two Honorary Doctorates; First from St. Andrews University (Scotland) in Literature, and secondly from Nanterre University (France) in Cinema. Furthermore, he has received over forty international awards such as the Marshall of Art and Literature from France in 1998, Federico Fillini Honour from UNESCO in 2001, Francois Truffaut Award from Italy in 2002, The Asian Filmmaker of the Year from Busan International Film Festival in 2003, Sergei Parajanov Awards from Armenia in 2006, Rome Courage & Bravery Award in 2006, Alhambra Award from Spain in 2007, Freedom to Create Prize for artistic creation from England in 2009 and Grand Human Right Award from Nuremberg in Germany in 2009. In 2006 he was appointed as the Dean of the Asian Film Academy (AFA) in Busan International Film Festival. Apart from his influences on the Iranian cinema, he has been supporting the Afghan, Tajik cinema for more than a decade.

Synopsis: An Iranian filmmaker and his son travel to Israel to investigate a world religion with 7 million followers, which originated in Iran a hundred and seventy years ago. Youth from all over come to Haifa, the center of this religion, to serve. Those who serve in the gardens that surround the holy places develop peace loving attitudes through their interactions with nature.
The father, as he accompanies a gardener from Papua New Guinea, finds similarities between the teachings of this religion, which was born in Iran, and with the positive ideas promoted by people like Mandela and Gandhi. He concludes that if the Iranian people had adopted a peaceful religion, Iran would not be preparing itself to attack Israel with a nuclear weapon. He shares this idea with his son, who is also investigating religion, but the son believes that all religions tend to bring about destruction. As a result of these arguments, father and son separate from one another and pursue their own paths.
The director’s camera tries to portrait the example of two different generation of Iran through this story.

Director's Note: According to Article 18 of the Declaration of Human Rights, each person has the right to choose his or her religion. In spite of the fact that the Iranian government has accepted this, it has deprived hundreds of thousands of Iranians who have chosen the Baha’i Faith as their religion of their rights, including receiving higher education and working in public offices. Their cemeteries are being destroyed. From time to time they are arrested, sent to prison and executed. In spite of all this, Baha’is refuse to abandon their beliefs.

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