RADIO DREAMS
Radio Dreams follows an eccentric Iranian writer (Hamid) through his travails at a San Francisco–based satellite radio station. Unable to realize his artistic dreams in his home country, Hamid immigrates to the U.S. to pursue his writing career. Instead, he winds up working at a third-rate radio station, seeking artistic satisfaction through esoteric programming he puts together for his small radio audience. Meanwhile, the owners of the station try to cash in on Hamid’s only program they see fit for commercial success—the bringing together of Afghanistan’s first rock band, Kabul Dreams, for an on-air jam session with their idols, Metallica. The ensuing collision between artistic integrity and crass commercialism resonates with poignant hilarity, as Hamid fights to maintain his ambitions and moral compass.
SCREENING: Crowley Theater - SAT 7/16 - 12:00 PM
Documentary Feature
94m
USA
Babak Jalali
was born 1978 in Northern Iran and has lived mainly in London since 1986.
He received a Bachelor’s degree in Balkan/East European Studies and a Master’s degree in Politics from UCL, University of London. He graduated with a Master’s in filmmaking from the London Film School in 2005.
As writer/director, Jalali’s short film, HEYDAR, AN AFGHAN IN TEHRAN, was screened at 60 film festivals worldwide and received a BAFTA nomination as Best Short Film in 2006. He was elected as one of six residents at the Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation Residence in 2006–2007. In the residence, he developed his first feature film titled FRONTIER BLUES in 2009. The film premiered in the International Competition at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2009 and has gone on to screen at over thirty festivals worldwide including Ghent, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Gijon, Sofia, New Directors/New Films in New York, San Francisco, and Edinburgh. Frontier Blues won the FIPRESCI award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
He is currently in pre-production on his third feature film, LAND, which is a co-production between Asmara Films (Italy), a Cup of Tea (France) and Topkapi Films (Netherlands). The film won the main production grant at Frameworks in the Torino Film Lab as well as receiving funding from CNC aides aux cinemas du monde (France), MiBACT development and MiBACT production grants (Italy), RAI Cinema funding (Italy), MEDIA development fund, Doha Film Institute production grant, The Netherlands Film Fund (Netherlands) and Eurimages production funding.
Radio Dreams is his second feature film as writer/director.
His works as producer includes WHITE SHADOW (2013), winner of the Luigi de Laurentiis - Lion of the Future Award for Best Debut Film at the 2013 Venice Film Festival and selected in competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival. He also produced SHORT SKIN (2015) developed at Venice Biennale College of Cinema and premiered at 2014 Venice Film Festival and 2015 Berlinale Generation.
CONTACT
info@butimarproductions.org
CREDITS
Director: Babak Jalali
Producer: Marjaneh Moghimi
Executive Producer: Neda Nobari Foundation
Co-Producer: Taraneh Golozar
Written by Babak Jalali & Aida Ahadiany
Editor: Nico Leunen/ Babak Salek
Original Music: Mahmood Schricker
Sound Mix and Design: Stefano Grosso
DP: Noaz Deshe
Production Designer: Laura Lathi
With: Mohsen Namjoo, Kabul Dreams (Sulyman Quardash, Siddique Ahmed and Raby Adib), Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Mohammad Talani, Boshra Dastournezhad, Bella Warda, Keyumars Hakim, Babak Mortazavi, Mahmood Schricker, Ali Tahbaz, Larry Laverty, Mansour Taeed, Laila Shahrestani, Casimir Carothers, Litz Plummer