Sreemoyee Singh | India, 2023, 75'
Inspired by Iranian cinema and the poetry of Forough Farrokhzad, a young female director from India journeys to Tehran to witness how resistance becomes a daily act of survival in Iranian society. Despite stringent censorship of the Islamic Regime, the director collects a series of eloquent and candid interviews with filmmaker Jafar Panahi, activists and Iranian women. Over six years, these conversations with the camera expertly capture the simmering anxieties, fears, hopes and dreams of a nation on the brink of revolution.
Sreemoyee Singh is a filmmaker from Kolkata, India. She completed her PhD on “The Exiled Filmmaker in Post-Revolution Iran” from Jadavpur University, which saw her travel, inspired by masters of Iranian cinema. This journey led to the filming of her first feature length documentary And, Towards Happy Alleys (Be Kucheye Khoshbakht), learning Persian from Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute and Center for Persian Studies in Tehran. Her in-depth research about the cinema of Iran gave her unique access to Iranian filmmakers, artists, activists, and women who are otherwise wary of interaction with foreign media. And, Towards Happy Alleys launched at the Berlinale International Film Festival (Panorama section) and has gone to screen at over a dozen film festivals, winning first prize at BAFICI in Argentina. Sreemoyee has also worked as Assistant Professor of Film Studies at St. Joseph’s University, Bangalore and a Guest Lecturer at New York University, Abu Dhabi (NYUAD).
