Land of Dreams w/introduction by Abirami Logendran - 27/4 kl. 17:30

While Shirin Neshat’s early works became world famous as a critical voice against the sociopolitical impacts of Islamic law on women in Iran and mostly reflected on her Iranian heritage alone, Land of Dreams, might be most representative of her status as an American immigrant: a position the renowned artist has long held but never quite explored. The feature film presented at Filmfest 3,14 is part of a group of works collectively titled Land of Dreams (2019–). In the film, Neshatturns her lens towards what it is to live in the US as someone who is not white. Where the idea of those titular dreams (of success, money, a better life) are sold to the many, but granted to few.

Set in small-town New Mexico, Land of Dreams follows the Iranian-American Simin, who is a ‘dream catcher’ working the United States Census Bureau which has gone beyond data collection and now explores the dreams of citizens for unknown intentions. She travels to different households to collect the most recent dreams of their occupants. When she likes a dream, Simin asks if she can take the subject’s portrait. She then goes back to a motel room, dresses up as the person, switches on a webcam and recounts the dream in Farsi to an anonymous audience. Along her journey, Simin is met with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, finding herself straddling two different identities, never quite accepted by either her Iranian audience or by the country in which she was raised. Playful and poignant, the film acknowledges the greatness of the American experiment while offering a warning beacon for what could come.

The film will be introduced by artist and film critic Abirami Logendran, who has recently worked with Shirin Neshat as film curator for Kunstnernes hus in Oslo.

Language: English

Duration: 2h total

Link to Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPhd78ZCMB4 

About the filmmaker

Shirin Neshat is an internationally acclaimed Iranian-born artist and filmmaker living in New York. Neshat works and continues to experiment with the mediums of photography, video and film, which she imbues with highly poetic and politically charged images and narratives that question issues of power, religion, race, gender and the relationship between the past and present, East and West, individual and collective through the lens of her personal experiences as an Iranian woman living in exile. In addition to working in a range of other media, Neshat has directed three feature-length films, amongst which Land of Dreams is the most recent. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2021).

Neshat has held numerous solo exhibitions at museums internationally including the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; The Broad, Los Angeles; Museo Correr, Venice, Italy; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C. and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Neshat was awarded the Golden Lion Award, the First International Prize at the 48th Biennale di Venezia (1999), the Hiroshima Freedom Prize (2005), the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2006) and in 2017, she received the prestigious Praemium Imperiale Award in Tokyo.

About Filmfest 3,14

Filmfest 3,14 s a celebration of new Iranian film, through a two-day program at Cinemateket i Bergen. The festival features art films, shorts and feature films alongside a rich discursive program. At Filmfest 3,14 you will get the opportunity to watch films by internationally acclaimed directors alongside young experimental filmmakers presenting their work for the first time in Norway. See full festival program here: https://www.kunsthall314.art/filmfest314

Tickets

Single tickets: 75 kr

Festival pass: 250 kr*

*The festival pass includes free access to the full two-day festival program as well as discounts as Kippers Bar & Kafe. NB! The festival pass does not automatically reserve seats for each event. When buying the festival pass, you will receive an individual code which must be used to book seats at the events you wish to attend.

Tickets to this event give you access to the 17.30 screening of Land of Dreams by Shirin Neshat only. For the other Filmfest 3,14 events, separate tickets must be booked.

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