CU MUȘCHII ÎNCORDAȚI + RODUL DISPERĂRII – SCURTMETRAJE / THE MUSCLES ARE TENSE + FRUITS OF DESPAIR – SHORT FILMS 15+

Language: AR, FA, EN

THE MUSCLES ARE TENSE

Directed by: Mahshid Mahboubifar

Documentary – Iran, Germany – 2025 – 16 min

Section: Past Continuous

Assembled from archival footage from the 2024 Palestine protests in Berlin, this film-essay is centered on the police camera, recording and archiving protestors’ bodies, and the protestors’ body; on the state’s monopoly on violence and protesting under constant surveillance. A composition of public space in which the historical origins of the police, its militarization, and its racial targeting emerge.

FRUITS OF DESPAIR

Directed by: Nima Nassaj

Documentary – Iran – 2026 – 29 min

Section: Past Continuous

While making a documentary on the Palestine-Israel conflict, an Iranian filmmaker is abruptly drawn into war at home. Forced to flee Tehran with his family, he finds temporary refuge in a suburban home. Over twelve tense days, the film transforms from an analytical essay into a self-reflective diary where archive, memory, and lived experience collapse into one another.

* Recommended for ages 12 and over; depicts graphic scenes of war.