23rd Iranian Film Festival (MFAH Screenings): Monir

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the 23rd Houston Iranian Film Festival January 22 – February 2, 2016.

For the 23rd edition of the longest-running MFAH film festival, the Museum is honored by the presence of actress Fatemeh Motamed Arya. She is scheduled to attend a rare, Tuesday-night screening on February 2, accompanied by her husband, actor Ahmad Hamed.

Another highlight of this year’s festival is a new documentary about artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, who is represented in the Museum’s permanent collection.

The Houston Iranian Film Festival continues at Asia Society Texas Center and Rice Cinema.

Film selections were made in collaboration with Tom Vick of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Smithsonian Institution’s museums of Asian art; Carter Long of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Barbara Scharres of the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago.

Monir
Directed by Bahman Kiarostami
2014, in Farsi with English subtitles
Iran, 54 minutes
DCP

This 2014 documentary looks at the life and work of Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, who first came to attention in the 1970s, when she pioneered new forms of geometric mirror works.

She created an artistic language that was informed by ancient Iranian craft as well as modern American masters such as Barnett Newman and Frank Stella.

Farmanfarmaian is one of the most innovative and influential artists of the Middle East; her method of constructing mirror mosaics reflects on the political changes in her own country and her subsequent migration to New York.

Monir, which features a musical score by composer Hooshyar Khayam and the Kronos Quartet, meets up with the artist back in Tehran. Her return after 30 years sparked an artistic rebirth for Farmanfarmaian, who turned 90 in 2014 and is at the peak of her career.

Additional support is provided by the Society of Iranian-American Women for Education (SIAWE) and the Iranian Cultural Foundation-Houston.