The Sparrow is Free
2021, 14’ - Hi8 film
In an empty house, a young woman hears a voice. The tales it evokes lead her to recreate scenes from her grandmother’s past life.
Through a window into the life of the filmmaker's grandmother, Kohandel's short interview-film explores gender roles in early 20th-century Iran. As a young girl, marriage to her older cousin leads to years of control and frustration. Rebelling against her husband, she eventually relocates to France with her sons, building a new life. As she voices her own story, the film weaves her experiences together into a broader narrative of self-determination. She carves out her independence in Paris and finds comfort in the everyday. A simple kind of happiness follows, the sparrow is free.
گنجشک آزاد است
۱۴۰۱
۱۴' - Hi8
۱۴۰۱
۱۴' - Hi8
از مصاحبه فیلمساز نیکی کهندل با مادربزرگ خود، شرایط زنان ایرانی در اوائل قرن بیستم را میتوان لمس کرد. در هفده سالگی ، این دختر نوجوان مجبور به ازدواج با پسر عمه خود می‌شود. همسری که سالیان سال او را زیر سلطه خود قرار میدهد و سرانجام ، این پیوند را به ناکامی و طلاق می کشاند. در نهایت ، برای فرار از این موقعیت و به امید ساختن زندگی جدید ، به همراه دو فرزندش ، تصمیم مهاجرت به فرانسه را می‌گیرد. با شنیدن داستانهای گوناگونش ، پی می بریم که چگونه میتوان با تصمیم و انتخابی تازه ، فصلی جدید در زندگی خود را آغاز کنیم. در پاریس ، آن .خوشبختی ساده ای که همواره در جستجویش بود را پیدا می کنند. گنجشک آزاد است
Upcoming:
18th, 18th, 21st April, Filmfest Dresden, International Short Film Festival.
14th & 23 May + 21st June 2023, Sinematek Istanbul.
Past screenings:
21st March 2023, Just Another Year: Persian New Year, The Nordic House Reykjavik.
9th March 2023, How Dare You Have Such a Rubish Wish + The Sparrow is Free, Barbican Cinema, London
3rd-5th March 2023, From Rosa to Simone Film Festival, Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group, Tbilissi.
3+5th February 2023, Films from Iran for Iran: Intergenerational Transmissions, Anthology Film Archives, New York.
28th January 2023, Maryam Tafakory: Rememberings, London Short Film Festival, ICA London.
14th December 2022, ‘Films from Iran for Iran’ + Q&A with Katayoun Jalilipour & Elhum Shakerifar, programmed by Another Gaze, ICA London.
4th December- January 2023, ‘Films from Iran for Iran’, Another Screen/Another Gaze.
Programme reviewed in:
- Libération - «Films From Iran for Iran», flammes vies et libertés’ by Sandra Onana
-5Harfliler - “İran İçin İran’dan Filmler” Seçkisinden Feminist/Kuir Birkaç Kuple by Lara Özlen
15th November 2022, ‘Only the Voice Remains’, screening with Neelofar Abrahimi’s I Remember, SOAS University.
17th November 2022, Film Diary NYC ‘Almost There’, Millenium Film Workshop.
26th November 2022, ‘Migration and Femininity’, London Migration Film Festival, The Ritzy Cinema.
July 2022, on-demand, Cryptofiction, curated by Mania Akbari.
29th - 30th June 2022, DOCUMENTARIST İstanbul Belgesel Günleri- Istanbul Doc Days, Institut Français.
18th - 30 th June 2022, GODSPEED: 18 short films by a new generation of diary filmmakersA gallery group show in collaboration with Millennium Film Workshop, curated by Nick Ramsay and Saint Piñero.
22nd Jan 2022, Root/25 Micro-film screening for Restless Beings.
21st Jan 2022, London Short Film Festival, ICA London.
‘New Shorts Documentary: The Promise of Hapiness?’ curated by Miranda Mungai.
18th Nov 2021, Girls in Film at House of Vans, London ‘It’s the family you choose’, curated by Raheela Suleman.
5th Oct 2021, Conch art collective presents ‘3 films by Niki Kohandel’ at SOAS University, London
Jul 2021, streaming on shashamovies, ‘CLOSE CUTS: 23 films around local cultural traditions’