Forbidden Tree

« Forbidden Tree, » the seven-minute film from Iran by Banafsheh Modarresi, is a story about a land where love is forbidden and freedom a distant memory. People dare not stand up for their basic rights, so they have adapted themselves to living in a harsh environment. In the process of forgetting about love, their faces and figures have become transformed. In fact, the less love they have inside the more they come to show it on the outside — indeed, some have even turned into animals.


The film has no dialogue because people are too scared to express themselves. The music, by Karen Homayounfar, is designed to emphasize this emptiness.


At some point, those who dare defy the rules, bring the city-state to a revolt by breaking taboos and falling in love. Because even though it is labeled a sin and forbidden, love has its roots in the human soul; this deep root does not rot in every human. And so even here, there is hope, a hope symbolized by a child who gets a taste of freedom by taking a bite from the forbidden apple.


Viewers have until May 17 to vote online for their favorite short film in the NFB Short Film Contest. The contest, presented by the National Film Board of Canada, in collaboration with the Cannes Short Film Corner and in association with YouTube, features ten short films from Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, the Czech Republic, Algeria and Iran.

http://www.youtube.com/user/nfb#p/c/B705642609B9C2E6/1/b50Q93pXMF4


Entry synopsis: 


A story of an imaginary city under a harsh ruler. Love is forbidden, and freedom a distant memory. Few people have the courage to fall in love, challenging the forbidden symbols....This film has no dialogue because the people are too scared to express themselves....in the end, love shines back in to the city. The courage of those who dared to love has saved it. The last clip shows a child tasting life and freedom by eating the apple (symbol of life) freely.

Tehranian-born Banafsheh Modaressi worked from 1999 as a freelance photojournalist and reporter for magazines such as Paris Match, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as well as several local newspapers. Government restrictions in Iran hampered her photojournalism career, so Modaressi obtained an M.A. in Graphics and Design in 2005 then began teaching at the University of Applied Science and Technology in Tehran. She has had over 20 photo and mixed-media exhibitions, both inside and outside of Iran, and her love of photography and drawing ultimately led her to animation. Modaressi started film-making in the workshop of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami ın 2008 and followed his workshops from Tehran to Villa Arson.

Thanks to Free Iran for the notification about this moving film.

http://www.freeiran.fr/index.php/2010/05/12/forbidden-tree/