No Land's Song

Movie
Original title	No Land's Song
Country of production	Germany , France
original language	German , English , Farsi
Publishing year	2014
length	93 minutes
Age rating	FSK 0
Rod
Director	Ayat Najafi
script	Ayat Najafi
production	Gunter Hanfgarn , Rouven Rech, Teresa Renn, Anne Grange
camera	Koohyar Kalari, Sarah Blum
cut	Julia Wiedwald, Schokofeh Kamiz
occupation
Sara Najafi Parvin Namazi Sayeh Sodeyfi Elise Caron Jeanne Cherhal Emel Mathlouthi

No Land's Song is a German-French documentary from 2014 directed by Ayat Najafi , who also wrote the script. The protagonists of the film are the musicians Sara Najafi, Parvin Namazi, Sayeh Sodeyfi, Emel Mathlouthi , Elise Caron and Jeanne Cherhal . The film premiered in September 2014 at the Canadian Montreal World Film Festival in Canada, where the film won the Best Documentary Award and the Audience Award.

action

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran's religious leaders banned solo female singing because it allegedly turned men into animals with no will. The young composer Sara Najafi defies censorship and taboos and is determined to organize an official concert for female solo singers in her hometown of Tehran . To get support for this challenge, Sara Najafi, together with the Iranian singers Parvin Namazi and Sayeh Sodeyfi, invited three singers from Paris : Elise Caron, Jeanne Cherhal and the Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi . They are supposed to work on the music project on site and thereby revive the musical connection between France and Iran. Over a period of two years, the film tells Sara Najafi's persistent dispute with the Iranian authorities for the approval of the concert.

Theatrical release

The cinema release took place in Germany on March 9, 2016 with a performance in the Berliner Volksbühne . The film started in France on March 16, 2016. To mark the release of the film in Germany, the Lower Saxony state representation presented a concert with Sara Najafi and other musicians from the film on March 21, 2016.

background

The low budget project was shot between August 2011 and September 2013 in Tehran and Paris . The film was funded in Germany by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg , MFG Filmförderung and the Kuratorium Junge deutscher Film . In France, the Center National de la Cinématographie provided funding .

criticism

No Land's Song has been extensively discussed by German and international film critics. Kino-zeit.de describes it as a “documentary that has everything a viewer could want in the cinema: a story with a clear goal, ups and downs, setbacks and moments of happiness.” Der Spiegel praised “the humorous documentary”, the "Shows how a musician takes on the moral guards" and printed an interview with the director Ayat Najafi, in which he reported on the sometimes dangerous filming in Iran. The Guardian writes: “The film and the venture are daring. Unfortunately, the state repression only subsided temporarily - the hardliners have banned women from appearing as accompanists themselves. ” The New York Times stated:“ Proves clear courage to make films. Get under your skin with artistic resistance, humor, friendship and, last but not least, triumph in a country that is notorious for the suppression of women's rights. " Variety says:" A rousing documentary - detailed and complex - full of ups and downs like a rollercoaster ride and full to the brim with wonderful music. ”And finally, The Hollywood Reporter writes :“ Gripping, captivating and stimulating - a documentary about a woman's right to sing in Iran. ”

Movie review

On September 22nd, 2016, No Land's Song received the rating "Particularly valuable" from the German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) . From the reason: “It is this courage and this willingness to go to extremes that can be felt in every minute of the film. In addition, wonderful melodies are played over and over again, a mixture of traditional tunes and new compositions by Sara and other Iranian artists, which move to tears in their power and strength. "

Awards and nominations

The film has been shown at 97 festivals around the world and has won 19 awards. On March 16, 2017, No Land's Song was nominated for the German Film Award.

International film festivals
year	festival	price	winner	result
2014	Montreal World Film Festival	Best documentary	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Noor Iranian Film Festival	Best documentary directing	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Doc Leipzig	Prize of the youth jury	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Gijón International Film Festival	Docufix Best Documentary	Ayat Najafi	Won
2015	Middle East Now festival	Audience award	Ayat Najafi	Won
	International Film Festival of Human Rights in Paris	Special jury Fleury Merogis	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Attention Berlin	Special mention by the ex-Berlin jury	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Kraków Film Festival	Mention spéciale du Jury DocFilmMusic	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Human Rights Watch Film Festival	Nestor Almendros Award	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Independent film festival Osnabrück	Peace Film Prize	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Verzio International Human Rights Film Festival	Audience award	Ayat Najafi	Won
	International Folk Music Film Festival - Kathmandu	Best long film	Ayat Najafi	Won
	Bir duino International Documentary Film	Best Film on Women's Rights	Ayat Najafi	Won

Web links

• No Country's Song in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• No Land's Song - official website for the film
• No Land's Song excerpt on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ No Land's Song. Retrieved March 24, 2017 . 
2. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: Singing ban in Iran: "To fight a taboo, you have to be patient and courageous" - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Culture. Retrieved March 24, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Alexis Petridis: Rocking the casbah: the gig of a lifetime that put Iranian women back on stage. In: The Guardian. March 16, 2015, accessed March 25, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Anjana Sreedhar: Iranian musician fights for women's rights to perform in public. New York Times, June 2015, accessed March 25, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Alissa Simon: Film Review: 'No Land's Song'. In: Variety. October 20, 2015, accessed March 25, 2017 . 
6. Jump up ↑ John DeFore: No Land's Song: Film Review. In: Hollywood Reporter. July 17, 2015, accessed March 25, 2017 . 
7. ↑ No Land's Song. Retrieved March 18, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Overview of nominations and winners: German Film Prize. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 17, 2017 ; accessed on March 17, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Montreal World Film Festival Prize Winner 2014 In: ffm-montreal.org , accessed on March 7, 2017. (French)
10. ↑ No Land's Song ( English ) Noor Iranian Film Festival. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
11. ↑ Prize of the Youth Jury 2014. In: dok-leipzig.de. DOK Leipzig, 2014, accessed on March 7, 2017 . 
12. ↑ Winner Gijón International Film Festival 2014. In: en.fic.gijon.es. Retrieved March 7, 2017 . 
13. ↑ FESTIVAL WINNERS . In: middleastnow.it . January 15, 2015. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 16, 2015. 
14. ↑ No Land's Song. In: festival-droitsdelhomme.org. 2015, accessed March 7, 2017 (French). 
15. ↑ List of winners “Achtung Berlin Festival” 2015. (PDF; 96 kB) In: Achtungberlin.de. April 21, 2015, accessed March 7, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Awards 2015-Krakowski . In: krakowfilmfestival.pl . January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2011.
17. ↑ Homepage of the HRW Festival. In: ff.hrw.org. 2015, accessed March 7, 2017 . 
18. ↑ Peace Film Prize winner "No Land's Song" can be seen again in the warehouse. In: filmfest-osnabrueck.de. October 12, 2015, accessed March 7, 2017 . 
19. ↑ VERZIO Film Festival 2015. In: verzio.org. Retrieved March 7, 2017 . 
20. ↑ Program of the festival 2014. (PDF; 5.2 MB) (No longer available online.) In: nepalmusicmuseum.org. November 19, 2015, archived from the original on March 7, 2017 ; accessed on March 7, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
21. ↑ Homepage of the festival. In: birduino.kg. Retrieved March 7, 2017 . 
22. ↑ Festival archives. In: nolandssong.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017 .