Sepideh Farsi

Farsi left Iran in 1984 and went to Paris to study mathematics. However, eventually she was drawn to the visual arts and initially experimented in photography before making her first short films. A main theme of her works is identity. She still visits Tehran each year.[1]

Farsi was a Member of the Jury of the Locarno International Film Festival in Best First Feature in 2009. She won the FIPRESCI Prize (2002), Cinéma du Réel and Traces de Vie prize (2001) for "Homi D. Sethna, filmmaker" and Best documentary prize in Festival dei Popoli (2007) for "HARAT".

One of her latest films is called Tehran Bedun-e Mojavvez (Tehran Without Permission). The 83-minute documentary shows life in Iran's crowded capital city of Tehran, facing international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions and experiencing civil unrest. It was shot entirely with a Nokia camera phone because of the government restrictions over shooting a film. The film shows various aspects of city life including following women at the hairdressers talking of the latest fads, young men speaking of drugs, prostitution and other societal problems, and the Iranian rapper “Hichkas”. The dialogue is in Persian with English and Arabic subtitles.[2] In December 2009, Tehran Without Permission was shown at the Dubai International Film Festival.[3]

1. The Siren (2021)
2. Red Rose (2014)
3. Cloudy Greece (2013)
4. Zir-e āb / The house under the water (2010)
5. Tehrān bedun-e mojavvez / Tehran without permission (2009)
6. If it were Icarus (2008)
7. Harāt (2007)
8. Negāh / The Gaze (2006)
9. Khāb-e khāk / Dreams of Dust (2003)
10. Safar-e Mariam / The journey of Maryam (2002)
11. Mardān-e ātash / Men of Fire (2001)
12. Homi D. Sethna, filmmaker (2000)
13. Donyā khāne-ye man ast / The world is my home (1999)
14. Khab-e āb / Water dreams (1997)
15. Bād-e shomāl / Northwind (1993)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sapideh Farsi.

• Sepideh Farsi at IMDb