Private Project

A Castle with Red Walls

The tale revolves around Davoud Roustaee, an Iranian filmmaker. His extensive collection of films, over 100 in total, faced pre and post-Islamic revolution bans, never gracing the screen. Remarkably, he stands alone as the sole director to craft a film within Iran's sanctioned red-light district, defying stringent regulations.

Further, he ventured into crafting a documentary on Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, the pivotal figure behind the execution of over 1000 opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

  • Abbas Raziji
    Director
  • Abbas Raziji
    Writer
  • Abbas Raziji
    Producer
  • Mansour Abderezaei
    Cinematographer
  • Majid Mohammaddoust
    Editor
  • Samira Gholamzadeh
    Editor
  • Majid Mohammaddoust
    Festival Distributor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 1, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • Country of Filming:
    Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • Language:
    Persian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Full HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Abbas Raziji

Abbas Raziji was born on 9 April 1984 in Ahvaz, Iran.
His childhood was exactly in the middle of Iran – Iraq war. When he was a teenager, he entered the theatre world. For a few years, he did acting and then concentrated on directing. At the age of 18, he entered the faculty of theatre at Arak University.
After obtaining a BA degree, he started working as the director assistant and at the same time, obtained his MA at drama ( theatre directing ).
He was 25 that Iran cinema community recognized him as an authoritative and different casting coach and casting director
and at the same time, he started teaching art at university.
During these years, he wrote many reviews in professional cinema & theatre journals and published several articles in this area. After producing some successful and high gross video movies, he produced his first feature film named “ Cold Breath “ that was praised in the world’s outstanding festivals and received many awards…

Filmography:

1- Cold Breath - 83 minutes - 2017
2- A Castle with Red Walls - 72 minutes - 2020

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Director Statement

Upon embarking on this cinematic journey and rallying my colleagues for collaboration, we were acutely aware that our creation would never grace Iranian screens. This was a result of the film's focus on a political and unconventional filmmaker, whose movie archive (a pivotal component of my documentary) boasts imagery potent enough to prompt bans across Islamic nations. Despite recognizing the inherent risks, we embraced them and brought this vision to life, even jeopardizing our professional trajectories.

It's vital to comprehend that filmmakers in Iran, and similar nations, often self-censor to avoid governmental strife. In our endeavor, we deliberately avoided such self-censorship, daring to broach taboo subjects through our cinematic narrative.