America

An Iranian journalist couple wants to move to America to escape the difficulties of their country. The woman receives her visa but her husband doesn’t. He stays in Iran and watches his wife find success on television and falls into a state of depression.

  • Mehrnoosh Fetrat
    Director
  • Mehrnoosh Fetrat
    Writer
  • Mehrnoosh Fetrat
    Producer
  • Mehran Arjomand
    Producer
  • Reza Sheikh Ansari
    Key Cast
    "Bahouz"
  • Mojdeh Daie
    Key Cast
    "Dilan"
  • Zara Molaei
    Key Cast
    "Katy"
  • Baset Rezaee
    Key Cast
    "Hiva"
  • Modar Sakkour
    Key Cast
    "Modar"
  • Aeen Irani
    Director of Photography
  • Farid Hoseyni
    Editor
  • Jon Appel
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 8 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    3,200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • Country of Filming:
    Iran, Islamic Republic of, United States
  • Language:
    Arabic, Kurdish, Persian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Temple University
  • Tehran International Short Film Festival
    Tehran
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
    November 9, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Diamond Screen Film and Media Arts Festival
    Philadelphia
    United States
    May 1, 2018
    Awarded Best Film, Awarded Best Editing, Nominated for Best Cinematography
  • Artemis Women in Action Film Festival
    Santa Monica
    United States
    April 22, 2021
    Awarded Best Actor
  • Nahal Short Film Festival
    Tehran
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
    June 19, 2018
    Nominated for Best Set Design
  • Sundance Collab
    Utah
    United States
    September 2, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Kurdish Film Festival in Berlin
    Berlin
    Germany
    August 6, 2020
    Official Selection
  • BlackStar Film Festival
    Philadelphia
    United States
    August 3, 2018
    Official Selection
  • High Falls Women's Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    November 2, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Trenton Film Festival
    New Jersey
    United States
    March 29, 2019
    Official Selection
  • UFVA Conference
    New Mexico
    United States
    July 25, 2018
    Official Selection
  • River Film Festival
    Padova
    Italy
    June 24, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Dalmatia Film Festival
    Pirovac
    Croatia
    December 1, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Realtime International Film Festival (RTF)
    Lagos
    Nigeria
    June 7, 2020
    Semi Finalist
  • Frames Film Festival
    Mumbai
    India
    January 10, 2019
    Finalist
  • Directed by Women
    Istanbul
    Turkey
    September 13, 2019
    Finalist
  • Elizabethtown Film Festival
    KY
    United States
    September 11, 2020
    Finalist
  • LTUE Film Festival
    Utah
    United States
    February 11, 2021
    Semi Finalist
  • IndieFEST Film Awards
    California
    United States
    February 4, 2020
    Award of Merit
  • Interrobang Film Festival
    Iowa
    United States
    June 22, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    September 25, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Vox Populi Gallery
    Philadelphia
    United States
    December 12, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Mantle Art Space
    Texas
    United States
    May 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Tassvir Film Festival
    Tehran
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
    March 1, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Philly Film Showcase
    Philadelphia
    United States
    December 12, 2019
    Official Selection
  • PSL
    Philadelphia
    United States
    February 12, 2019
    Official Selection
  • International Peace Film Festival
    Erbil
    Iraq
    June 2, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Music Shorts Film Festival
    Montana
    United States
    May 1, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Love International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    September 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Yellow Stone International Film Festival
    Noida
    India
    January 28, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Box Short Film Festival
    Tehran
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
    February 3, 2021
    Honorable Mention
  • Short Film Slam
    Philadelphia
    United States
    August 24, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Lift-Off Film Festival
    Iver
    United Kingdom
    December 1, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Roxbury International Film Festival
    Boston
    United States
    March 1, 2023
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • CFMDC- Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre
    Country: Canada
Director Biography - Mehrnoosh Fetrat

Mehrnoosh Fetrat is an Iranian filmmaker whose had a strong passion for literature and cinema since childhood. She received her MA in Cinema from the Tehran University of Art. She moved to the United States in 2017 after being awarded a University Fellowship--one of the most prestigious fellowships--in the MFA program in Film and Media Arts at Temple University in Philadelphia.
She has written, produced and directed three short films War Game, America and Copsi which have been screened in more than forty-five film festivals and galleries in countries such as USA, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, UK, Croatia, Turkey, Iraq, and India. Festivals such as BlackStar Film Festival, Tehran International Film Festival, Sundance Collab, Kurdish Film Festival in Berlin, Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival, Ca' Foscari Short Film Festival, Adirondack Film Festival, Trenton Film Festival, Vox Populi Gallery, High Falls Women's Film Festival, Frames Film Festival, River Film Festival, London Iranian Film Festival, UFVA and many others. They were nominated and won several awards.
America is now available on Comcast’s Streampix movie service. CFMDC--Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Center--is the distribution company for her films. War Game is now in the distribution process.
She has been nominated for the Princess Grace Award. Her films are admired by people such as Boots Riley and Golshifteh Farahani. She founded the Utopia Film Club which provides a place for all cinephiles to watch and discuss Avant-garde and alternative cinema. Utopia Film Club has had screenings every month since 2017.

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Director Statement

An Iranian journalist couple (Katy and Bahouz) wants to move to America to escape the difficulties of their country. Since there is no US embassy in Iran, they have to go to Turkey to get their visa. Katy receives her visa but Bahouz doesn’t. She doesn’t communicate with him for a year during her stay in US. He stays in Iran and watches his wife find success on American television and falls into a state of depression.
The main character’s (Bahouz) dream is having a better future by leaving Iran. His obstacle is that he hasn’t completed his mandatory military service. Those who have a military service in Iran only can leave the country one time by paying a deposit. Unfortunately, Bahouz already used it when he traveled to Turkey, so he cannot leave Iran anymore. After one year when Katy calls, she asks him to leave and pass Iran’s border Illegally. Bahouz arranges a plan to cross the border with the aid of his nephew, Hiva, who is serving his mandatory military service.
Bahouz comes from a Kurdish family, which consists of his sister Dilan who is the narrator of the film and his nephew Hiva. In this film the Kurdish family represents the mistreatment of all Kurds, who do not have equal rights because the government views them as inferior to other Iranians. Despite not being treated as equals; the Kurds are required to serve mandatory military service like other Iranians. Most Kurds do not believe Iran to be their country. Instead they wish to be free and have their own sovereign state. Iran has political problems with Western powers, which also prevents the Kurds from traveling outside the country.
The film has a nonlinear-narrative structure that parallels between past and present. Another character is the young Syrian man, Modar, who is friends with Hiva. Kurds and Arabs, symbolize the situation of Middle Easterner people. Both groups feel that they don’t have their own country or homeland. As in Bahouz’s dream it mentioned: O, Yes, I say it plain, this homeland was never my homeland.