Manuscripts Don’t Burn

Dast-Neveshtehaa Nemisoosand

DIRECTOR: Mohammad Rasoulof  COUNTRY: Iran YEAR: 2013   LANGUAGE(S): Persian SUBTITLES: German RUNNING TIME: 134 min  

SECTION: Vorpsiel/Prelude 2015

SYNOPSIS

“The means by which an authoritarian regime succeeds in silencing independent voices is the subject of Manuscripts Don’t Burn, the slow-burning, clandestinely made fifth fiction feature by Iranian helmer-writer Mohammad Rasoulof. A brave, challenging picture that makes the viewer complicit in the action, it is also perhaps the first film since the declaration of the Islamic Republic to confront so directly the brutality of the feared security apparatus […] The violence in this film is, for the most part, understated, depicted
as an everyday part of Khosrow and Morteza’s jobs. Yet even as these men go about their diabolical deeds, Rasoulof provides a sliver of hope by showing that there is always a witness, both within the film itself and by extension, via the audience. No warm tones intrude on the well-executed lensing, much of which is done in tightly framed closeups. The claustrophobic visuals, as well as the sophisticated and increasingly ominous
sound design, reinforce a ‘no exit’ feel. Those in the know say all exteriors were shot in Iran, while the interior scenes were filmed in Germany.” (Variety)

MOHAMMAD RASOULOF
Mohammad Rasoulof was born in Shiraz in 1973. He studied sociology at Shiraz University, and film editing at Sooreh Higher Education Institute in Tehran. His first feature-length film, THE TWILIGHT, was released in 2002. His second feature, IRON ISLAND, won him international recognition as one of the most important filmmakers of the new wave of Iranian Cinema. GOODBYE won him the Best Directors award of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. On December 20, 2010, he was sentenced by
the government of Iran to six years in prison on charges of “assembly, collusion, and propagandizing against the regime.” His appeal is still pending. Mohammad Rasoulof was the patron of NIHRFF 2013, but was prevented from travelling to Nuremberg when Iranian authorities confiscated his travel documents right before the festival.

FILMOGRAPHY
The Twilight (2002), Iron Island (2005), Im Reich der Schlüssel (2008), The White Meadows (2009), Goodbye (2011), Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013)

SCRIPT: Mohammad Rasoulof PRODUCER: Mohammad Rasoulof CAMERA: Anonymous   EDITOR: Anonymous  MUSIC: Anonymous

WORLD SALES: Elle Dirver