Skip to content
PG12

A CHILDLESS VILLAGE

Genre
Comedy
Running time
82 minutes
Year
2022
Language
Farsi
Subtitle
English
Country
Iran
Director
Reza Jamali
Bio
Producer
Salman Abbasi
Cast
Hamdollah Salimi, Behrouz Allahverdizadeh, Maryam Momen, Safat Ahari, Naser Mohebi, Velayat Khoubdel
Scriptwriter
Reza Jamali
Kazem, an elderly film-maker, (Behrouz Allahverdizadeh) tried to shoot a documentary 20 years before this film takes place in a remote Azeri village where the women, who were all childless, were presumed to be sterile. His film was never completed: the village women, anxious to preserve their dignity, burnt the footage. Two decades later, when it is established that it is the men who were and are infertile, Kazem decides to go back with his camera. Iranian director Reza Jamali paints a lively picture of what happens when a film-making circus comes to a small town, peering through windows and asking intrusive questions, while also exploring the male suspicion of women that goes back to Adam and Eve. His imaginary village is like a social fishbowl, where these divisions are very visible. Not at all imaginary, however, are the gorgeous mountains and valleys of the surrounding countryside, used by Jamali to spectacular effect.

Other movies

SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON

Director: Reema Kagti

This entertaining romp is based on the life of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur film-maker from the poor Indian town of Malegaon who was inspired by his love of silent slapstick to make a film of his own, featuring local characters and put together by a crew of friends. As the locals favoured Bollywood escapism, he adapted some of their favourites with the tales transported to Malegaon. People loved it, but their success threatened to split the group, one of whom turned out to have bigger ambitions: a few hurdles had to be jumped before everyone realised what really mattered to them. It is a poignant and at times funny take on film-making, friendship and what happens when those worlds collide.

ZORRO

Director: Jean Baptiste Saurel

In 1821, after the unexpected death of his father, Don Diego de la Vega (the always charismatic Jean Dujardin) is named mayor of Los Angeles, a city facing massive financial trouble and with greedy businessman Don Emmanuel close to taking over the city of angels. Don Diego feels that the answer is to bring back Zorro, but it's been 20 years since he's worn the mask, and he isn't getting any younger. While the old costume just about fits, Don Diego struggles to balance his dual identity as both Zorro and mayor. And though his wife Gabriella is unaware of his secret identity, she certainly takes an interest in the mystery man in the black cape. A humorous reimaging of the legend.

ZERO

Director: Jean Luc Herbulot

In the bustling heart of Dakar, Senegal, two white Americans wake to a nightmare: bombs strapped to their chests, and they only have ten hours before they explode. With no idea who’s behind it, their only hope for survival is to listen to the instructions of a mysterious voice on the phone, forcing them to complete a series of bizarre and perilous tasks across the city. As they race against time in this twisted scavenger hunt, the vibrant streets of Dakar become a high-stakes labyrinth of survival. Darkly thrilling and filled with unexpected political commentary on colonialism and African society, this tense and exciting pulse-pounding thriller keeps you guessing until the very last second—because in this world, every move counts.

40 ACRES

Director: R.t. Thorne

Danielle Deadwyler shines as the invincible gun-toting matriarch Hailey, a Black military veteran determined to protect and preserve her family and their land in the wake of a man-made apocalypse. A few years before, all animals on Earth were killed by a viral epidemic. Since then, there has a been a breakdown in global food supplies: only those cultivating the land can hope to survive, provided they can ward off roving militias looting the remaining farms. Hailey communicates only with other farmers via CB radio; her four children are walled in with their parents, taught to trust nobody, but when lonely young Emmanuel meets Dawn, a wounded young woman in the woods, Hailey’s regime threatens to break down from within.