Was hast du gestern geträumt, Parajanov?

The woodchip wallpaper is pixelated, the sound heavily out of sync. The distance between Berlin and Isfahan: just under 4000 km. Not something so easy to bridge. The webcam does its best, creating the possibility of intimacy, but sometimes also simply testifing to the gulf. Over ten years, Faraz Fesharaki documented his exchanges with his family, a digital dialogue between the one who moved away to study film in Germany and those who stayed behind in the sizable Iranian city. Father Hassan and mother Mitra discuss the traditional role of the woman and present persimmons from the garden. He mutates into Abbas Kiarostami for a moment, she recalls her time in prison. Cousin Rahi supplements this intergenerational diaspora conversation from Austria with his favourite recipe: toast, mozzarella and egg. Much remains unsaid and is only alluded to. What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? also narrates between the lines, with texts on a red background that Fesharaki edits into the film like notes and messages, as well as VHS image memories. For ultimately, this debut film is also about a dilemma: the desire to be understood without being easily able to describe one’s feelings. (Carolin Weidner)

Faraz Fesharaki, born in Esfahan, Iran in 1986 and based in Berlin. While studying dramatic literature and film at Tehran University of Art, he started working on his own short films and took part in workshops with Abbas Kiarostami. In 2012, he started studying cinematography at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? by Alexandre Koberidze was his graduation film as a cinematographer. In 2021, he shot Sara Summa’s second feature Arthur & Diana. What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? is his first feature-length film as a director.

Production Luise Hauschild, Ewelina Rosinska, Mariam Shatberashvili. Production company Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) (Berlin, Germany). Director Faraz Fesharaki. Cinematography Faraz Fesharaki, Moritz Friese, Shahab Fotouhi. Editing Faraz Fesharaki. Music Rahi Sinaki. Sound design Sum-Sum Shen. Co-production New Matter Films, Ewelina Rosinka. With Mitra Kia, Hasan Fesharaki, Faraz Fesharaki, Rahi Sinaki.

Films: 2017: It’s a Criminal Waste to Give This Film a Postproduction (short film). 2024: Was hast du gestern geträumt, Parajanov? / What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov?.

World sales: Oyster Films, Berlin, Germany, christina@oyster-films.info, www.oyster-films.info

Bonus Material