Starless Dreams

Starless Dreams
Film poster
Directed by	Mehrdad Oskouei
Produced by	Mehrdad Oskouei, Oskouei Film Production
Written by	Mehrdad Oskouei
Music by	Afshin Azizi
Cinematography	Mohammad Hadadi
Edited by	Amir Adibparvar
Distributed by	Cinema Guild
Release date	February 16, 2016 (2016-02-16)
Running time	76min
Country	Iran
Language	Persian

Starless Dreams is a 2016 Iranian documentary directed by Mehrdad Oskouei.^[1]

Synopsis

A haunting portrait of stolen childhood, Starless Dreams plunges the viewer into the lives of seven young teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a rehabilitation and correction center on the outskirts of Tehran. As the New Year approaches, the girls bond and reveal with disarming and often playful honesty the circumstances and acts that resulted in their incarceration. One girl killed her father; another robbed a bank; another was arrested for carrying 651 grams of cocaine. The girls' sisterly bond brings them to sing and dance with hope and allows them to share their tears. Outside the prison walls, danger is everywhere, even within their own families.

Oskouei, one of Iran's most prominent directors, spent seven years securing access to this all-female facility. With incredible empathy, Starless Dreams delivers an unforgettable cinematic portrayal of restored innocence and humanity.^[2]

Festivals

• 66th Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlinale-Generation 14plus, Germany, February 11-21, 2016^[3]
• 13th True/False Film Festival, Columbia, Missouri, United States, March 3-6, 2016^[4]
• 17th Tempo Documentary Festival, Stockholm, Sweden, March 7-13, 2016,^[5] "TOP DOCS" Non Competitive Festival
• 18th One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Prague, Czech Republic, March 7-16, 2016^[6]
• Griffin 7, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusett, United States, March 8, 2016
• 18th Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Greece, March 11-20, 2016^[7]
• Ambulante Documentary Film Festival, Mexico, March 31-June 2, 2016
• Middle East Now Festival, Florence, Italy, April 5-10, 2016^[8]
• 19th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, North Carolina, United States, April 7-10, 2016^[9]
• Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, April 28-May 8, 2016^[10]
• 31st International Documentary Film Festival (DOK.fest), Munich, Germany,^[11] May 5 – 15, 2016, competition section "DOK.horizonte"
• 13th International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF, Chisinau, R. of Moldova, May 12-18, 2016, competition section
• 3rd Köln Iranian Film Festival, Germany, May 26-29, 2016
• 4th Cinema in Sneakers Film Festival for Children & Youth, Warsaw, Poland, June 1-12, 2016
• Cinema at the Deutsches Filmmuseum Frankfurt, Germany, screening dates: June 4 and 5, 2016
• 39th Norwegian Short Film Festival / 'International feature documentary Programme', Grimstad, Norway, June 8-12, 2016
• New York Human Rights Watch Film Festival, United States, June 10-19, 2016
• ‘New Directors, New Films’ Festival, Espinho, Portugal, June 20-27, 2016, Golden Lynx Competition section
• 65h Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia, July 28-August 14, 2016
• DokuFest PRIZREN, KOSOVA, August 5-13, 2016, Human Rights Competition section
• The Dokfilmwoche in the fsk Kino and Sputnik Kino in Berlin, Germany, screening dates: September 1 and September 7, 2016
• Bergen International Film Festival, Norway, September 20-28, 2016, "Checkpoints" competition
• 12th Zurich Film Festival, Switzerland, September 22-October 2, 2016, "Border Lines" section
• XXVI Message to Man International Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia, September 23-30, 2016, "International Competition" section
• 60th BFI London Film Festival, UK, October 5-16, 2016, "Competition – Grierson"
• 25th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Arkansas, United States, October 7-16, 2016,^[12] competition section
• Antenna Documentary Festival, Sydney, Australia, October 11-16, 2016,^[13] competition
• Inconvenient Films festival, Lithuania, Vilnius, October 13-23, 2016
• 31st Unabhaengiges FilmFest Osnabrueck, Germany, October 19-23, 2016, "Children Rights Competition" section
• Festival des Libertés, Bruxelles, Belgique, October 20-29, 2016
• 14th Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia, Mexico, October 21-30, 2016, program "Year of Germany in Mexico 2016/2017"
• 35th Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris, France, November 5-December 11, 2016, screening date: Saturday, November 5, 2016
• 21ème Rencontres du Cinema Documentaire, Cinéma Le Méliès à Montreuil, France, screening date: November 5, 2016
• MOVE IT! Film Festival, Dresden, Germany, November 8-13, 2016^[14]
• 29th exground filmfest, Wiesbaden, Germany, November 11-20, 2016
• 20th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia, November 11-27, 2016
• 3rd Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, Australia, November 23-December 4, 2016
• Women's Worlds Film Festival by the Human Rights Organisation for Women TERRE DES FEMMES, Tuebingen, Germany, November 23-30, 2016

Awards

• Winner of Pare Lorentz Award at IDA (International Documentary Association), Los Angeles, United States, 2016^[15]
• Winner of Amnesty International Film Prize at the 66th Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlinale-Generation 14plus, Germany, 2016^[16]
• Winner of True Vision Award for Mehrdad Oskouei at the 13th True/False Film Festival, Columbia, Missouri, United States, 2016
• Winner of the Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award, Duke University, 2016^[17]
• Winner of the Full Frame Inspiration Award, Durham, North Carolina, April 10, 2016^[18] at the 19th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, North Carolina, United States, 2016^[19]
• Winner of Best Photography Award
• Winner of Women Special Prize
• Winner of Grand Prix at the 13th International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF, Chisinau, R. of Moldova, 2016^[20]
• Winner of Special Mention Youth's Jury Award at the 4th Cinema in Sneakers Film Festival for Children & Youth, Warsaw, Poland, 2016
• Winner of Honorable Mention
• Winner of Cineuropa Audience Award at the 'New Directors, New Films' Festival, Espinho, Portugal
• Winner of Special Mention Human Rights Award at DokuFest Prizren, Kosova, 2016
• Winner of Full-length Documentary Film Award at the 26th International Film Festival Message to Man, Russia, 2016
• Winner of the Grierson Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 60th BFI London Film Festival, UK, 2016^[21]
• Winner of Best International Documentary at 25th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Arkansas, United States, 2016
• Winner of Special Jury Award at Antenna Documentary Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2016
• Winner of Best Film – Young Jury Award at the 31st Unabhaengiges FilmFest Osnabrueck, Germany, 2016
• Winner of Prix Smart at ‘Festival des Libertés’, Bruxelles, Belgique, 2016
• Winner of Pare Lorentz Award by the 32nd International Documentary Association (IDA), 2016, at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, United States. The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrate exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.
• Winner of Grand Prix Nanook – Jean Rouch at the 35th Jean Rouch IFF, Paris, France
• Winner of Best Film at the 12th move it Internationale Filmfestival, Dresdener, Germany, 2016^[14]
• Winner of Best Feature Documentary at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), Australia, 2016^[22]

Reviews

Scott Tobias of Variety said, "Oskouei is given a window into homes where, as one subject puts it, "pain drips from the walls," but "Starless Dreams" isn't a cavalcade of misery. With confinement comes safety, and with a roomful of like-aged girls from common backgrounds, the rare opportunity for friendship and fun."^[23]

Leigh Kolb of Bitch Media said, "Oskouei's style as a documentarian would seem invasive if it weren't so empathetic. His voice is present and strong, and he asks the girls probing questions: about their crimes, about their histories, and about their hopes."^[24]

Stephen Holden from The New York Times said, "Roger Ebert once called the movies 'a machine that generates empathy,' and Starless Dreams ... is just such a machine. With the conceptual rigor and emotional directness associated with the best of Iranian cinema Oskouei simply listens to the stories of those who have never been listened to before."^[2]

Deborah Young from The Hollywood Reporter said, "Mehrdad Oskouei's reputation as one of Iran's finest documentary filmmakers grows film by film. Starless Dreams is the perfect example of how powerful simplicity can be, when it's underpinned by compassion for its subject."^[2]

Kenigsperg from The New York Times said, Although the movie bears some resemblance to the films made by Frederick Wiseman within institutions, the acknowledged presence of the director, Mehrdad Oskouei, creates a constant tension. The girls — identified by first names or nicknames like 'Nobody' and '651' — show varying degrees of comfort with Mr. Oskouei's questions, some matter-of-factly discussing drugs or stabbings, and others seemingly reluctant to look toward the camera. Yet 'Starless Dreams' suggests that the center's grounds, where the girls play in the snow or work in a greenhouse, are kinder than the world outside, and that release is a fraught prospect. So if 'Starless Dreams' inspires conflicted feelings in viewers, it may be by design. It's hard not to want to flee, and it's hard to look away."^[25]

Kenji Fujishima from KINO SCOPE said, In some ways, Starless Dreams is a standard talking-heads documentary, with much of it made up of Oskouei’s interviews with the girls in the detention center as learns their histories and how they feel about their lives. But he also alternates these intimate chats with more Frederick Wiseman-esque observational segments of the girls playing and interacting with authority figures and relatives. These fly-on-the-wall scenes help transcend the grim nature of the film’s subject, showing how capable these troubled girls still are of experiencing childlike wonder.^[26]

References

External links

• Starless Dreams on IMDb
• Starless Dreams at Rotten Tomatoes