Imagine feeling a genuine ‘calling’ for a career, and not having the freedom to pursue your passion. Imagine being a young woman reaching a marriageable age knowing that your life partner has already been chosen for you and there’s no room for debate.

These scenarios depict the reality for young people growing up in modern day Iran. Their desire for cultural freedom and expression places them in a constant struggle against a combination of age-old conventions and political control. Two films to be screened at the upcoming Byron Bay International Film Festival (5th –13th March) explore the lives of both urban and rural Iranian youth, and provide telling insights to this challenge for individuality and choice.

In My Tehran for Sale an aspiring young actress is not allowed to work in the theatre, but dares to do this ‘in secret’. Shot entirely on location in Tehran, this film illuminates how young urban Iranians are forced to live behind closed doors rather than pursue ambitions that do not align with tradition, culture or political mores.

As a consequence, many of the youth of Tehran occupy lives of duality – working covert jobs, but publicly adhering to the façade of pretence necessary to step out their front doors. This film is the directorial debut of contemporary Iranian poet Granaz Moussavi. Her determination was to show “The fear, and how we learned to pretend all the time and were told how to behave according to the unwritten standards. We had to pretend to be old and sad while we were only young and like any other teens in the world.” My Tehran for Sale challenges our own sense of freedom and opens a window into the real Iran.

Set in the northern rural province of Mazandaran, the second film, Wind Blows in the Meadow, presents us with a view into the world of arranged marriages. Shooka is a very spirited and hardworking young village woman. Her future pre-arranged marriage to a wealthy neighbour’s mentally impaired son does not currently occupy much of her focus. When her father is suddenly and seriously injured in a logging accident, Shooka is pressured into proceeding with this marriage in order to contribute to her family’s income. Her struggle to avoid the inevitable brings a true suitor to her rescue, whose numerous attempts to delay the arranged marriage only create greater chaos.
Wind Blows in the Meadow is a melodramatic and entertaining film, but it does have its serious side – both in terms of the lack of personal choice for women, and Iran’s environmental destruction caused by excessive logging. BBFF’s Executive Producer Greg Aitken says “These two films deliver on our overall festival goal to bring the world of film to the heart of Byron Bay. Implicit in this goal are the insights and understanding that are gained by viewing lives and worlds beyond our own”.

The GreenhouseFX Best Animation Award: "The Tale of How"
Directed by: The Blackheart Gang
Best Cinematography Award: "Tanghi Argentini"
Directed by: Frank Van den Eeden

Best Documentary Award: "Indestructible"
Directed by: Ben Byer & Rebeccah Rush

The Byron At Byron Best Environmental Film Award: "Saving Luna"
Directed by:Suzanne Chisholm & Michael Parfit

The Frontline Best Experimental Film Award: "Tyger" Directed by: Guilherme Marcondes

The Bay FM Best Byron Bay Filmmaker Award: Mick Waters for "Believe"

BBFF08 Honorable Mention: "To Touch the Soul"
Directed by: Ryan Goble
Produced by: Teresa Hagen

The Splendour in the Grass Best Short Film Award: "Tanghi Argentini" -
Directed by: Guido Thys & Anja Daelemans

Best Surf Film Award: "Sliding Liberia"
Directed by: Britton Cailouette & Nicholai Lidow

The SAE Institute Best Dramatic Feature Award: "Heartlines"
Directed by: Angus Gibson & Mariki Pretourius

The Avid Technology 2008 Best Young Filmmaker Award Lav Bodnaruk: "The Sound of Cry"(Prod) & "The Pain of the Macho" (Dir)

The Southern Cross University Best Film Award: "Laya Project"