23rd Iranian Film Festival (MFAH Screenings): Jafar Panahis ‘Taxi’

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.

Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi”
Directed by Jafar Panahi
2015 in Farsi with English subtitles
Iran, 82 minutes, DCP

Over the years, the Museum has presented films by leading Iranian director Jafar Panahi, whose international acclaim began with The White Balloon in 1995 and continues through the films made since his house arrest: This Is Not a Film (2011) and Closed Curtain (2013).

The theatrical premiere of his latest release, Taxi—which won the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival—furthers that commitment.

“A yellow cab is driving through the vibrant and colourful streets of Tehran. Very diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver, who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio captures the spirit of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic drive.” —Berlinale

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