No One Knows About Persian Cats

Bahman Ghobadi:
No One Knows About Persian Cats (Iran, 2009)
106 min. - Persian - English subtitles
K-13

Bamham Ghobad’s film No One Knows About Persian Cats has gained huge festival success but it shouldn’t even exist. The film’s subject and the entire production were strictly forbidden in Teheran. Ghobadi filmed in secret, hidden from the Iranian authorities, needing to tell the story. Perhaps that is why the imaginary world of the film is so authentic and the emotional charge so forceful. And perhaps that is why today the most interesting films come from the Middle East. These stories need to be told.

No One Knows About Persian Cats is an interesting mix of fiction and documentary. Ashkan and Negar are young Iranians who, after being released from the prison, decide to form a band. In Iran the commencing musicians run into obstacles that are quite a lot bigger than in the Western Countries. The youngsters face a difficult decision: fleeing the country or going to prison. Ashkan and Negar’s story is fictional but the surroundings in all their austerity are true. Real Iranian musicians were cast, and the story was developed further through their experiences. All the bands appearing in the film are underground groups hiding from the officials. In this light, the film is worth seeing for already because of the music scenes.

No One Knows About Persian Cats is a strong portrayal of the silent rebellion against censorship. The viewer’s emotions vary from hopefulness to frustration. The film is entertaining, makes you laugh and keeps you in its grip. Nonetheless, the documentary-like style painfully reminds the viewer that the setting is real.

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Bahman Ghobabi:

Bahman Ghobadi was born in 1969 in Baneh, a Kurdish area near the Iranian and Iraqi border. He studied film direction, and after graduation distinguished himself in short films. Ghobadi’s Life in Frog is often considered to be the most famous Iranian short film of all time.

In 2000 Ghobadi founded the production company Mij Film to produce films about different ethnic groups in Iran. The full-length debut Time For Drunken Horses (2000) became the first Kurdish film in the Iranian history and it also awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. No One Knows About Persian Cats is Ghobad’s fifth full-length film.

See also:

» Gaspar Noé: Enter the Void
» Fatih Akin: Soul Kitchen
» Matt Wolf: Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell
» Gaspar Noé: Enter the Void
» Fatih Akin: Soul Kitchen
» Matt Wolf: Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

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