Maryam Najafi

현대 이란, 자폐증을 앓고 있는 듯한 아크람은 피부 미용사인 동생 아자르와 그녀를 무시하는 가부장적인 오빠 아메드와 함께 살고 있다. 어느 날 자신을 놀리는 아메드를 실수로 지붕에서 밀어 죽음에 이르게 하는 아크람. 두 자매는 오빠의 시체를 숨기고 사람들에게 오빠가 독일로 떠났다고 거짓말을 한다. 비밀이 드러날 수 있는 아슬아슬한 상황들에 아자르는 애가 타지만, 아크람은 자신들의 거짓말을 믿기 시작하면서 점점 오빠가 다시 돌아올 것이라 생각하게 된다. 카베 마자헤리 감독은 자폐증이 있는 동생을 무시하는 한 오빠의 실제 이야기에서 영감을 받아 영화를 완성했다. 감독은 이들의 관계가 역전될 때 어떤 상황이 발생할 지를 영화로 만들어 보고자 했다. 코엔 형제의 작품을 떠올리게 하는 이 블랙 코미디는 가부장적 질서안에서 발생한 우연한 사고로 인해 탈주하게 된 두 여인의 좌충우돌을 치밀한 구성을 통해 보여준다. (2021년 제3회 강릉국제영화제)

Three lonely people, each looking for love in their own ways. This is hard enough in any big city – never mind in Tehran, where individual freedoms can’t be taken for granted. In a sexy voice on the telephone, an overweight receptionist seduces men who wouldn’t look twice at her real ‘me’. A former bodybuilding champion now earns a living as a personal trainer. When he gets a promising young sportsman as a client, he drops everything else; even a very promising acting job for a well-known French director. A singer at religious funerals is dumped by his fiancée. He tries to find new purpose in life by retraining as a singer at weddings and parties. That’s a lot more attractive to women, his friend assures him.

Three lonely people, each looking for love in their own ways. This is hard enough in any big city – never mind in Tehran, where individual freedoms can’t be taken for granted. In a sexy voice on the telephone, an overweight receptionist seduces men who wouldn’t look twice at her real ‘me’. A former bodybuilding champion now earns a living as a personal trainer. When he gets a promising young sportsman as a client, he drops everything else; even a very promising acting job for a well-known French director. A singer at religious funerals is dumped by his fiancée. He tries to find new purpose in life by retraining as a singer at weddings and parties. That’s a lot more attractive to women, his friend assures him.

Set in the heart of the Middle-Eastern community in modern-day Vancouver, Kayan is a multifarious story of belonging, loyalty and love. Hanin, a Lebanese independent single mother of two, struggles to keep her restaurant, Kayan, afloat. Unexpected revelations in her private life coincide with complications in the lives of her employees and customers. Things take a twisted turn