Experiencing Interruptions?

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
  • Country of Filming:
    Iran, 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 (مهرنوش فطرت) is an Iranian filmmaker based in Chicago. She is currently an assistant professor at Northwestern University and has previously taught at several other schools, including Drexel University, The College of New Jersey, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Temple University, and Saint Joseph's University.
Mehrnoosh has written, produced, and directed three short films: War Game, America, and Copsi. Her work has been shown at over 50 film festivals and galleries across the U.S., Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Croatia, Turkey, Iraq, India, and the UK. Her films have appeared at events such as the Kurdish Film Festival in Berlin, Tehran International Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Sundance Collab, UFVA (University Film and Video Association), Buffalo Film Festival, Philly Film Society, Trenton Film Festival, Ca' Foscari Film Festival, London Iranian Film Festival, High Falls Women's Film Festival, and the Adirondack Film Festival, among others. Her films are distributed by the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC). They have also been streamed on Comcast Streampix, TUTV, and PrideTV. She has received several awards and nominations for her films, including Best Actor at the Artemis Film Festival and Best Film and Best Cinematography at the Diamond Screen Film Festival. She has also been nominated for the Princess Grace Award and the PEW Fellowship. Her work has been praised by figures such as Boots Riley and Golshifteh Farahani. In addition, she has served as a jury member for various festivals and conferences, including UFVA, Philadelphia Asian American Film festival, Onion City Film Festival, and Box Film Festival.
Mehrnoosh holds an M.A. in Cinema Studies from Tehran University of Art and an M.F.A. in Film Production from Temple University, where she received the University Fellowship. She originally studied Electrical Engineering but changed her path to film due to her deep passion for cinema, which led her to focus more on the production aspect of filmmaking.
Mehrnoosh’s research focuses on the German New Wave—especially the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder—along with Third Cinema and Iranian cinema. She has written and translated many articles on these topics and has translated several plays from English to Farsi, including Red by John Logan and Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts.
Currently, Mehrnoosh is in post-production on two new films. The first is a short fiction film titled Raw, Cooked, Burned, which tells the story of an Iranian woman in three different stages of life after the 1979 Revolution. The film explores the intense violence and oppression women face under the Islamic Republic. The second project is a feature documentary called Unfinished: Kamran Shirdel, which looks at the history and decline of post-revolution Iran through the lens of Shirdel.
She founded the Utopia Film Club in Philadelphia, a space for cinephiles to watch and discuss avantgarde and alternative cinema. At Northwestern, she continues this work by hosting film screenings and leading talks and panels in the Radio/TV/Film Department. She has also been invited to speak at other institutions, including Northeastern University.

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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.