Film Screening 6th August, 2012

Poster for Circumstance

Circumstance 

8:00 PM, 6th August, 2012

  • MA
  • 102 mins
  • 2011
  • Maryam Keshavarz
  • Maryam Keshavarz
  • Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa

** FREE SCREENING AS PART OF THE DIVERSITY WEEK FILM FESTIVAL. CLICK http://www.anufg.org.au/read/7585/diversity-week-film-festival-2012-august.html[HERE] FOR MORE DETAILS. **

This is the story of Atafeh (Boosheri), her best friend Shireen (Kazemy) and her brother Mehran (Safai). Atafeh and Mehran are privileged children, having grown up in a well-off Tehran household surrounded by art, music and intellect. But they are both tempted by the underground and the forbidden. For Mehran this leads to a fight with drug addiction whereas for Atafeh, the forbidden is represented by her growing closeness to, and love for, her best friend. It's this developing relationship between Atafeh and Shireen that gives the film its strength, and at times sultry and sensual style.

First time director Keshavarz shows a wonderful eye for visuals, especially in the romantic scenes between the best friends. These are juxtaposed with unnerving CCTV shots that are unexplained when they appear, but lead to a realisation late in the story. Unfortunately some sub-plots introduced later into the film blur the film's intention and let down the strength of the main story leading to some melodramatic plot points. Overall it's a very personal story with some wonderful on-screen chemistry and visual styling.

Steven Cain