Sri Lankan moviegoers have a rare opportunity to enjoy a treat of world renowned Iranian cinema here in Colombo. Starting from July 2, the Cultural Section of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran screens Iranian films weekly every Wednesday at their auditorium at No. 06 Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 7.

Screening starts at 5.30 P.M on all days and on a first come first served basis. The entrance to see the movie will be free of charge. Famous for its artistically rich and internationally acclaimed productions, Wednesday's weekly film screening highlights Iran's leading filmmakers like Bahram Beizai, Majid Majidi, Abbas Kiorostami, Hamid Jebali and Hassan Fathi.

The group includes some of the filmmakers who played a major role in forming the new wave and prepared the ground for Iran's cinema to take more internationally-recognized steps in the following years. The Film Festival started on July 2 with the screening of ‘The Travellers’ by Bahram Beizai.

This Wednesday, July 9 ‘Baran’ directed by Majid Majidi will be screened. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with the film Children of Heaven in 1998, Majidi was one of five international film directors invited by the Chinese government to create a documentary short film to introduce the city of Beijing, in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics which will be held in the Chinese capital.

The film narrates a moving tale of the relationship between a young Iranian construction worker and an immigrant labourer from Afghanistan. Workplace rivalry disappears when the Iranian man realizes that the Afghan worker is actually a teenaged girl desperately trying to provide for her needy family. The revelation changes both their lives as they now share a dangerous secret and possible romance. …it's the saddest story of love in a long while, yet liberating in the way it instills a sense of oneness with all humanity.

Internationally acclaimed Abbas Kiorostami's ‘The Wind Will Carry Us’ will be screened on July 16.
A film maker from Tehran, travels to a remote mountain village secretly planning to record a local ritual ceremony surrounding an old dying women. Upon arrival, his crew is met by Farzad, a young boy from the town who at first becomes their informant on the fate of the old woman. Convincing the locals that they are archaeologists looking for buried treasure, the film maker attempts to befriend them with mixed results.

As the whistling wind, golden light and deep shadows of the village cast an alluring spell, the death watch drags on and the woman stubbornly clings to life, leaving the crew impatient. Evocative and haunting "The wind will carry us'' is constructed with Kiarostani's trade mark of soulful serenity, creating an extraordinarily beautiful moving film.

A beautifully told 'Son Of Maryam' of Hamid Jebali's film creates a bridge of understanding that is much needed. Screening on July 23, the film is about a young village boy, Rahman who devoutly practises his Islamic religious rites and ceremonies.

Abbas Kiorostami	Bahram Beizai	Hamid Jebelli

Once when he is taking some milk for the priest of the village church he becomes strongly attached to the icon of the Virgin Mary. In his eyes the picture resembles his own mother. The priest is so kind that Rahman often goes to his house freely. One day the old priest ,while carrying a crucifix, falls off the roof of the church and is severely injured.

"Son of Maryam'' is an Iranian film promoting tolerance and Christian-Muslim dialogue. The film has been screened at Boston, Cairo, Calcutta, Chicago, Rome, Tokyo and at the Vatican film festival. It has been reviewed in the American Library Association's Booklist, October 2004.

‘Marriage Iranian Style’, a debut directorial venture of Hassan Fathi is a fascinating glimpse into how pop culture can sometimes do an end run around global crises.

With emphasis on visual elements and a joyful,light atmosphere, Fathi has worked on a romantic-comedy , apparently a new genre in Iranian cinema. After his long career in television, he has cooperated with a huge cast of Iranian best known actors in his first movie, but once again, focuses on his favourite theme, cross-cuttings of modernism and tradition in our lives. However, this time, he narrates his story in a sweet, absorbing way.

The desire of tradition-bound rug merchant's daughter to marry an American is the pointed linchpin in Hassan Fathi's alternately charming and overwrought Persian comedy of manners. The film will be screened on July 30.