TEHRAN-The 35th Festival of Films from Iran in Chicago in the state of Illinois, the U.S. started February 1 at the Gene Siskel Film Center with 10 films by Iranian filmmakers working within and outside Iran.

This year’s edition of the festival includes “Achilles” directed by Farhad Delaram, “Endless Borders” by Abbas Amini, “Aziz” by Majid Tavakoli, “Roxana” by Parviz Shahbazi, “Terrestrial Verses”, co-directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, “The Doll” by Asghar Yousefinejad, “Empty Nets” by Behrouz Karamizadeh, and “Dream’s Gate” by Negin Ahmadi.

The 2023 drama “Achilles” tells the story of a young filmmaker who currently works in a hospital and takes a mental patient out for a short ride to find out who she really is. Now he has to decide whether to run away with her or take her back to the hospital.

A joint production of Iran, France, and Germany, Delaram’s feature debut has Mirsaeed Molavian, Behdokht Valian, Roya Afshar, and Neda Aghighi in the cast.

A political thriller, “Endless Borders” happens at the time when the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan reignited the fire of ethnic and tribal wars. In the movie, the Hazara Afghans, who are under immediate threat from the Taliban, enter Iran illegally. Ahmad is an exiled Iranian teacher in a poor village of Iran close to the Afghan border. When he gets acquainted with a Hazara family, he sees the real face of prejudice and dogmatism in the region. He decides to save a young forbidden love but that decision can have dire consequences for everyone.

The cast includes Pouria Rahimi-Sam, Mino Sharifi, Hamed Alipour, Behafarid Ghaffarian, and Nasser Sajjadi-Hosseini among others.

Having been shown at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), International Film Festival of India, and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival last year, the film won the VPRO Big Screen Award at the IFFR.

“Aziz” is about a family that grapples with financial hardships. Aziz, the elderly mother with dementia, develops a surprising affection for her youngest son, Anoush, who is about to marry. This revelation strains Anoush's relationship with his fiancée as he reluctantly becomes his mother's companion during her declining health.

Rouzbeh Hesari, Azadeh Samadi, Bahman Sadegh-Hassani, Reza Abbasi, Shirin Mohseni, Aghigh Bolouri, and Fatemeh Mohammadi play in the film.

“Roxana” is the story of a young gambler who finds an unexpected romance with a talented girl artist. Determined to turn his life around, he strives to become a better, more useful person.

Mahsa Akbarabadi, Yasna Mirtahmasb, Maedeh Tahmasbi, Behrang Alavi, Rambod Motalebi, Niloofar Kookhani, and Shahram Abdoli are in the cast.

In its world premiere at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival in October, the film won the Best Actor Award for Yasna Mirtahmasb.

In “Terrestrial Verses,” filmed indoors with a static camera, civilians in Tehran come face to face with individuals vested with power – parents, teachers, functionaries, businessmen – in delicate dialogues. These range from hair color to baby naming and dog ownership. Each of the vignettes unfolds as an interview between a visible subject and an offscreen authority who grills them.

The cast includes Majid Salehi, Gohar Kheirandish, Farzin Mohades, Sadaf Asgari, Hossein Soleimani, Bahram Ark, and Ardeshir Kazemi among others.

“The Doll” revolves around Ayoub, a rather old man, who decides to re-marry, after 40 years of married life with Shamsi, who is lost suspiciously. However, not a single member of the family can accept such a marriage. The bride is Roya, the young nurse who was taking care of Ayoub's disabled son and then fired by Shamsi, now the lost wife.

Parastoo Fanid, Firouz Agheli, Soyel Shirgir, Nasser Hashemi, Fatemeh Esmaili, Reza Bagheri, Hassan Babazadeh, Vahid Shirzad, Roqayeh Zareiun, Amin Haji Akbari, and Reza Abpak are in the cast of Yousefinejad’s second and last feature film as he passed away after the completion of the film.

“Empty Nets”, an Iran-Germany co-production, tells the story of Amir and Narges, who have found genuine love in their coastal hometown near the Caspian Sea. However, to gain the approval of Narges' wealthy family, Amir requires a significant amount of money urgently. Faced with limited options, he secures a job at a nearby fishery, embarking on a perilous yet profitable venture involving the illicit smuggling of black-market caviar.

Hamidreza Abbasi and Sadaf Asgari play the main roles in the film that won the special jury award at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czech last July.

“Dream’s Gate” is a powerful portrait of female resistance. In the film Iranian filmmaker Negin Ahmadi journeys into the war zone of Northern Syria, armed only with her camera, embedding herself with the YPJ—an all-female Kurdish militia unit.

The movie was a nominee for Best Film at the Generation 14plus of Berlin International Film Festival and has won the Special Mention of Best Young Director at ZagrebDox.

Festival of Films from Iran also pays special tribute to the mastery of the late auteur Dariush Mehrjui, one of the most important pioneers of the Iranian New Wave cinema, who was tragically murdered last October. His seminal and groundbreaking 1969 film “The Cow” will be followed by “Dariush Mehrjui: Making of the Cow,” with director Bahman Maghsoudlou in attendance.

Produced in 1969, “The Cow” tells the story of a middle-aged villager named Mashd Hassan who is infatuated with his cow, the only one in the village. When the cow unexpectedly dies, he becomes so deranged that he begins to believe that he has become the cow. His friends decide to take him to the nearby city to be seen by a doctor.

The cast includes Ezzatollah Entezami, Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi, Parviz Fannizadeh, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Ali Nassirian, Ezatallah Ramezanifar, and Jafar Vali.

The Gene Siskel Film Center’s Festival of Films from Iran was founded in 1989 and continues as a yearly showcase that spotlights the innovation, resilience, and humanism of contemporary Iranian filmmakers and acclaimed Iranian auteurs.

It serves as a window to Iran and its political, social and cultural world, forming and challenging audiences' perceptions of Iran, while also building a richer understanding of the country and its cinema.

The Gene Siskel Film Center is the cinematheque attached to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is named after popular film critic Gene Siskel. It continues showing this year’s festival films till February 8.

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