'Whatever we do is political' says Iranian director Asgari at Venice
The drama was forced to move production to Turkey after unrest and war in Iran, and it is one of 21 films competing for Venice’s Golden Lion.
- On Friday, Iranian director Ali Asgari's drama "A Bit of Light" premiered at the Venice Film Festival, competing among 21 films for the Golden Lion award, which will be presented on Saturday.
- Filmmakers faced severe restrictions, forcing production to relocate from Tehran to Turkey due to bombardments and intensified security after the February war outbreak. Asgari described the process as "complicated and rife with consequences."
- Lead actor Misagh Zareh called cinema "a powerful means of resistance," noting that for Iranian artists, even posting on Instagram protesting executions brings legal summons the next day.
- Executive producers Taika Waititi and Odessa Rae joined the project to expand its reach. Rae emphasized that Venice competition "gives them a chance to be seen, particularly in the American market."
- Screenwriter Shadmehr Rastin noted that repeated tragedies over the past year have left many Iranians "anaesthetised." The film portrays small acts of endurance to help audiences keep moving forward despite overwhelming despair.
20 Articles
20 Articles
‘A Bit of Light’ Review: A Despondent Man Stumbles Into a Renewed Sense of Connection in a Mournful, Quietly Comic Drama From Iran
Ali Asgari, one of the writer-directors of ‘Terrestrial Verses,’ enters Venice’s main competition with the story of a persecuted Iranian doctor and his matter-of-fact plan to end his life.
Venice (Italy), Sep 11 (EFE).- «The cinema is a very strong instrument of resistance». Iranian director Ali Asgari released his film ‘A Bit of Light’ this Friday at the Venice Festival, with which he sends a message of hope in the face of the problems in his country, from oppression, crisis and [...] The entry Iranian Ali Asgari in the Mostra: «The cinema is a very strong medium of resistance» was first published in HolaNews.
Il Tempo
Quotidiano NazionaleVenice, 11 Sep. (askanews) - Iranian director Ali Asgari presented at the 83rd Venice Film Festival "A Little Light" (A Bit of Light), in Competition. The film, in the halls since October 1, is his sixth feature film and has been shot in particularly difficult circumstances, with the beginning of the war and the continuous threat of the bombings in Iran. He tells of a doctor who is arrested and, after seeing his surgery close, loses confidence i…
On Friday afternoon, Ali Asgari was the penultimate contender of the Lion gold of the 83rd Mostra del Cinéma, with the portrait of a former doctor saying goodbye to his relatives... ...
‘A Bit of Light’ Review: Ali Asgari’s Iranian Answer to ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Is a Bit of a Miracle
The painful phenomenon of suicide has preoccupied philosophers since the dawn of their discipline. Albert Camus gave it primacy over all other existential concerns. “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide,” he wrote in “The Myth of Sisyphus”. One of Ali Asgari‘s many achievements in “A Bit of Light” is how he avoids relitigating the obvious heavy personal, social, and theological arguments around this most sen…
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