Radio Dreams
Description
A single day unfolds at a Farsi-language radio station in San Francisco. The staff awaits a much-anticipated visit from Metallica, arranged with the highest of hopes by Hamid, the station’s perpetually exasperated program director. In Iran, Hamid was a renowned author, but he’s since channeled his energy into keeping Pars Radio’s schedule packed with meaningful content—despite what he sees as meddling by the station owner’s pragmatic daughter. (She’s running the show, since her father has other interests.) Also in the mix is real-life Afghani band Kabul Dreams, who’ve been summoned to join their rock idols for a broadcast that’ll hopefully drum up some new listeners. But the meeting isn’t just a publicity stunt—at least not for Hamid, who’s see it more as a symbolic cultural exchange between East and West. Radio Dreams writer-director Babak Jalali (Frontier Blues, SFIFF 2010) strikes the perfect tone, couching the film’s more serious themes within a small-scale film that’s filled with deadpan humor and understated yet powerful performances—particularly by the charismatic Mohsen Namjoo, aka “the Iranian Bob Dylan”—as the passionate Hamid. —Cheryl Eddy
Iran-born, London-raised director Babak Jalali made his feature debut in 2009 with the Iran-set Frontier Blues (SFIFF 2010); Radio Dreams is his second feature. His next project is Land, a contemporary drama set on an American Indian reservation in New Mexico.
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/157228606?autoplay=1Film Details
Language Farsi, English, Dari, Assyrian
Year 2015
Runtime 93
Country USA/Iran
Director Babak Jalali
Producer Marjaneh Moghimi
Writer Babak Jalali, Aida Ahadiany
Editor Nico Leunen, Babak Jalali
Cinematographer Noaz Deshe
Music Mahmood Schricker
Cast Mohsen Namjoo, Kabul Dreams, Lars Ulrich, Mohammad Talani