Street Life in Tehran: Three Film Shorts

1999

Farsi

Directed by: Saeed Tarazi & Seifollah Samadian

(43 mins total)

Deadtime, (12 mins) directed by Seed Tarazi. This amusing and insightful film examines the seconds that become minutes that turn into hours spent waiting at traffic lights in the crowded streets of Tehran. It’s a tightly edited portrait of people caught in the congestion of modern city life and the means they use to cope with it. There is no dialogue in this film.

The White Station, (9 mins) directed by Seifollah Samadian. A woman carrying an umbrella braves an unprecedented Tehran snowstorm in order to use public transportation. The simplicity of the action and motivation soon dissolve into a profound statement on the human condition. There is no dialogue in this film.

Tehran: The 25th Hour, (22 mins) directed by Seifollah Samadian. On the 29th of November 1998, moments after the Iranian national football team qualified as the 32nd team in the World Cup, the gloomy streets of Tehran were transformed into isles of joy as people united to celebrate the happiest day in the life of the modern Iranian nation; a day that would come to be know as “Sweet Saturday.”

In Farsi with English subtitles.