UW Honors College to Host Second Middle East Film Festival

Six films will be screened during the University of Wyoming Honors College’s second Middle East Film Festival Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 22-23. The event is free and open to the public.

Three films will be screened each day from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. in the UW College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. Food will be available at 6 p.m. both days. A question-and-answer session with directors will follow each film -- most will be conducted via Zoom.

Matthew Rankin, a Canadian director based in Montreal, will attend in person as the festival’s special guest. He will answer questions after the screening of his film “Universal Language,” which received the first-ever Chantal Akerman Award, an audience prize presented to the best film in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight section. The film has been described by the director as blending “the poetic realism of the great Iranian masters with Canadian surrealism” and elsewhere as a film in which “Iranian cinema has actually invaded Winnipeg.”

Ahmad Nadalizadeh, an Honors College assistant instructional professor who specializes in Middle Eastern films, organized the event.

“We are thrilled to offer this second iteration of the only Middle East Film Festival in the United States,” says Peter Parolin, UW Honors College dean. “The films are carefully chosen to introduce audiences to new geographies, new ways of navigating the world and new ways of approaching film.”

Screenings will be held at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day. Films to be screened, directors and descriptions are:

“Universal Language” (2024) -- Matthew Rankin

“Winter. Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to retrieve it. Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists on an increasingly strange walking tour of Winnipeg’s historic sites. Matthew leaves his job with the Québec government and embarks on a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother.”

“My Favorite Cake” (2024) -- Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, this film follows Mahin, a woman who lives alone in Tehran after her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe. When she invites friends over for afternoon tea, she breaks her solitary routine and revitalizes her love life.

“Terrestrial Verses” (2023) -- Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami

Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard, this film offers a satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran through nine vignettes. The stories progress along a rough timeline from birth to death, each shot in a static camera angle, with a single petitioner negotiating with an authority figure who remains just outside the frame and speaks in the language of doublespeak.

“Miguel’s War” (2021) -- Eliane Raheb

Winner of the Teddy Award for Best Queer Film at the Berlin International Film Festival, “Miguel’s War” portrays the story of a gay man confronting the ghosts of his past. After fleeing war and repression 37 years ago, Miguel returns to Lebanon, where he traces hidden longings, unrequited love and feelings of guilt.

“Brother's Keeper” (2021) -- Ferit Karahan

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival’s Panorama section, this film tells the story of Yusuf and his best friend, Memo, who are students at a boarding school for Kurdish boys in the mountains of Eastern Anatolia. When Memo falls mysteriously ill, Yusuf struggles to overcome bureaucratic obstacles put up by the school’s repressive authorities in order to help his friend.

“My Sweet Pepper Land” (2013) -- Huner Saleem

Set in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, this film, recipient of the Gold Hugo for Best Feature Film at the Chicago International Film Festival, follows Baran, a newly appointed police officer tasked with restoring order in a lawless town. As he struggles to maintain peace amid corrupt power dynamics and a traditional, patriarchal society, he forms an unlikely bond with Govend, a brave, independent woman whose spirit challenges both Baran and the oppressive norms surrounding them.

For the latest updates on the film festival, go online to www.middleeastfilmfestival.com.