“Maryam (22) accidentally kills her husband Nasser (65) and is sentenced to death. The only person who can save her is Mona (37), Nasser’s daughter. All Mona has to do is appear on a popular live TV show and forgive Maryam. But forgiveness proves difficult when they are forced to relive the past.”
This is the synopsis of Yalda, A Night for Forgiveness, the latest film by Massoud Bakhshi, and the winner of 2020 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition and the nominee for 2021 Lumières Awards, the French equivalent of Golden Globes.
Hamidreza Nassiri has sat down to talk with him on different aspects of the film, from screenplay to sound, cinematography, mise en scène, editing, and collaborating with an international crew. An interview for filmmakers and film-lovers, alike.
The film is available to watch on virtual cinemas via Film Movement, in time for Yalda, the night of Winter Solstice.
“Born in Tehran, Iran, in 1972, Massoud Bakhshi has worked as film critic, scriptwriter and producer, before making 12 documentaries and short films which were awarded internationally. His first feature film A Respectable Family was selected at Cannes Film Festival 2012 (Quinzaine des réalisatuers). Yalda, A Night for Forgiveness is his second feature film.”
