No One Knows About Persian Cats

No One Knows About Persian Cats
Directed by	Bahman Ghobadi
Produced by	Bahman Ghobadi
Written by	Bahman Ghobadi Hossein Mortezaeiyan Roxana Saberi
Starring	Negar Shaghaghi Ashkan Kooshanejad Hamed Behdad
Music by	Ash Koosha Mahdyar Aghajani
Cinematography	Turaj Aslani
Editing by	Haydeh Safi-Yari
Studio	Mij Film
Release date(s)	May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Iran
Language	Persian

No One Knows About Persian Cats (Persian: کسی از گربه های ایرانی خبر نداره) is a 2009 Iranian film directed by Bahman Ghobadi produced by Wild Bunch. Originally titled Kasi az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh, in the film's native language, Persian, this film first took on the name of Nobody Knows About The Persian Cats before finally being titled No One Knows About Persian Cats. The film offers perspective of Iran as it explores its underground Rock scene. It won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

Plot

The film follows two young musicians (Ashkan and Negar) as they form a band and prepare to leave Iran shortly after being released from prison. The pair befriends a man named Nader (Hamed Behdad), an underground music enthusiast and producer who helps them travel around Tehran and its surrounding areas in order to meet other underground musicians possibly interested in forming a band and later leaving the country. The film highlights many of the legal and cultural challenges independent musicians and generally the Iranian youth face in Iran's severely confined government.

Cast

• Hamed Behdad
• Ashkan Kooshanejad
• Negar Shaghaghi

Bands and musicians

• Take It Easy Hospital
• Rana Farhan
• Hichkas
• The Yellow Dogs Band
• Shervin Najafian
• Ash Koosha
• Mirza
• The Free Keys
• Mahdyar Aghajani
• Darkoob
• Hamed Seyed Javadi
• Nik Aein Band

International Cinema Release Dates

• 23 December 2009 - France^{[citation needed]}

as Les Chats Persans

• 3 February 2010 - Belgium
  ^{[citation needed]}
• 26 March 2010 - UK

Limited Release: Curzon Soho & Key Cities^[2]

• 16 April 2010 - USA
  ^{[citation needed]}
• 16 April 2010 - Australia
  ^{[citation needed]}
• 15 July 2010 - Israel^[3]
• 23 September 2010 - Netherlands^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Awards and nominations

Its first official screening was at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.

• Cannes Film Festival:
  • Special Jury Prize (won)
• Miami International Film Festival:
  • Audience Award (won)
• São Paulo International Film Festival:
  • Best Foreign-Language Film (won)
• Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival:
  • FICC Jury Award (won)
  • Jury Prize for Cinematography (won)
  • NETPAC Jury Award (won)
• Tokyo Filmex:
  • Special Jury Prize (won)

References

1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: No One Knows About Persian Cats". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/10865364/year/2009.html. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
2. ^ List of release dates and venues of No One Knows About Persian Cats on www.brightwide.com [1]
3. ^ List of upcoming movie releases in Israel, updated regularly by movie publishers and film journalists (Hebrew). [2]

• Jeffery, Simon (29 October 2009). "Banned but not on the run at the London film festival". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/oct/28/london-film-festival-iran. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 

External links

• Underground Musicians Fight The Man In Tehran, NPR Movie Review by Mark Jenkins, 2010-04-15, accessed 2010-05-07.
• No One Knows About Persian Cats at the Internet Movie Database
• In-depth review of the film and its soundtrack
• Behind the scene of No One Knows About Persian Cats^{[dead link]}
• No One Knows About Persian Cats Soundtrack
• This is music from a brave and extraordinary musical movement, BBC review