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Khab-e talkh

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Khab-e talkh[1]
Directed byMohsen Amiryoussefi
Written byMohsen Amiryoussefi
Produced byMohsen Amiryoussefi
Rouhollah Baradari
StarringAbbas Esfandiari
Yadollah Anvari
Delbar Ghasri
Mohsen Rahimi
CinematographyBayram Fazli
Release date
  • June 1, 2005 (2005-06-01)
(France)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryIran
LanguagePersian

Khab-e talkh is an Iranian film directed by Mohsen Amiryoussefi in 2004. Amiryoussefi's first feature film is named the first Iranian black comedy.[2] It took home the Caméra d'Or at that year’s Cannes as well as generous critical acclaim.[3]

Story

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The film tells the tale of Esfandiar's confrontation with the Azrael after 40 years of bathing the dead. With his life flashing before his eyes, Esfandiar is forced to reconsider his behavior towards his co-workers including: an opium addict gravedigger, a naive young man who burns clothing of the dead and a widow who washes dead women's bodies.[4]

Critical reception

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Le Monde's Jean-François Rauger wrote: Here is a strange conceptual comedy, a mixture of diverse and contradictory sensations, an experience both abstract and documentary. A surprise, an unexpected object coming from the ever exciting Iranian cinematography. Death is at the heart of Mohsen Amiryoussefi's first feature not only because the narrative lies in a cemetery, but because it is the unique preoccupation of the main character. And the film bears a special attitude towards the latter, in which reflection and laughter intersect in a cocktail eventually unprecedented. Bitter sleep is above all a farce. This is the challenge that the filmmaker has visibly explored as an explorer of what, at the heart of the least laughable reality, flits the burlesque dimension.[5]

Awards

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Khab-e talkh received notable awards from film festivals around the world.[6][7][8]

Year Festival Award Result
2004 Cannes Film Festival Camera d'Or Special Mention Won
2004 Chicago Film Festival Gold Hugo Nominated
2004 Thessaloniki Film Festival Audience Award Won
2004 Thessaloniki Film Festival Golden Alexander Won
2005 Mar del Plata Film Festival Special Jury Award Won
2005 Mar del Plata Film Festival Best Film Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Bitter Dream (Khab e Talkh)". The Guardian.
  2. ^ "KHAB E' TALKH (BITTER DREAM )". Dubai Film Festival.
  3. ^ "Rising talent on Iranian Scene". Variety.
  4. ^ "Deborah Young's Review: 'Bitter Dream'". Variety.
  5. ^ ""Sommeil amer" : Monsieur Esfandyar au coeur d'une farce macabre, dans un cimetière iranien". Le Monde.
  6. ^ "List of awards received by Khab-e talkh".
  7. ^ "Khab-e talkh at Cannes archive". Festival de Cannes.
  8. ^ "45th Thessaloniki Fest Offers a Thanksgiving Feast of Cinema". Indiewire.
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