Still Playing + The Curfew + Nava
Three protagonists and their quietly courageous gestures of resilience weave together a cinematic journey across the world. Documenting a father’s struggle in Palestine, a woman’s fateful return to Iran, and the quotidian experiences of Pakistani diaspora, this trio of films raises essential questions about proximity to cruelty, colonialism’s lasting impacts, and what it means to show love and devotion under harrowing circumstances.
Still Playing
The Curfew
Nava
Biographies
A native of the suburbs of Paris, Mohamed Mesbali studied political science at the IEP in Paris and cinema at Lyon’s Lumière University. He later studied editing at the CinéFabrique Film School and went on to edit several shorts. He makes his writing/directing debut with Still Playing.
Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Shehrezad Maher has screened her films at institutions and festivals such as the Venice Film Festival, Visions du Réel, RIDM, the LA Film Forum, UnionDocs, and Experiments in Cinema. Her feature film script, Theory of Colors, was selected for the 2025 Sundance Screenwriters Intensive and 2023 HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab and was awarded the Melissa Mathison Screenwriters Fund and CineStory’s Hagan Hicks Underrepresented Women’s Voices Scholarship. She holds an MFA from Yale University, where she was awarded the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize.
Dena Rassam is an Iranian film producer, writer, and creative professional. She is the daughter of the renowned director and producer Masoud Rassam. She is best known for her critically acclaimed short film Tattoo (2019), which she co-wrote, produced, and distributed. The film, inspired by her personal experiences, premiered at the Berlinale, won the Crystal Bear, and achieved two Oscar qualifications. Beyond her own projects,. In 2024, she directed her debut short film, Nava.
