Tehran: City of Love (DVD and download)

Three stories of love and yearning set in Tehran.

Mina is a secretary in a beauty clinic who is struggling with her weight but is addicted to ice-cream. Leading a double life, she catfishes her male clientele over the phone with a seductive voice, but she stands them up when they arrive to meet her on dates. Eventually she does meet a prospective partner, but things may not go smoothly.

Hessam is a three-time winner of bodybuilding competitions, who now trains affluent older men. He has also been cast in a film starring Louis Garrel, whom he is assured is the most famous of French actors, but whom neither he nor anyone else in Iran seems to know. However, he is willing to give up everything for a special new younger client.

Vahid is a funeral singer who has been dumped by his fiancée. He is urged to liven up his approach to life by trying a new career as a wedding singer. At one of these he meets the free spirited Niloufar, but is she a real long-term prospect?

BFI London Film Festival 2018

International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019

102 mins / in Farsi with English subtitles

Iran / UK / The Netherlands

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1981, Ali moved to Vancouver in Canada in his teens. In 2008, after spending a year attending Abbas Kiarostami's filmmaking workshop back in Tehran, he decided to follow his real passion for making films by studying at the London Film School. His graduation short film, AMAN (2011), was awarded the Cine+ prize at the Premiers Plans Film Festival in Angers, France and the MEO Best Student Film prize at the Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival. His feature film debut, FALLING LEAVES (2013), premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2013 and won the Federico Fellini Award for best international newcomer at the Tiburon International Film Festival in California, USA.

Filmography

2008 THE SOUND OF DISTANCES (short)

2011 AMAN (35mm short film)

Â

2013 FALLING LEAVES

Â

2018 TEHRAN: CITY OF LOVE

★★★★★ "Beguiling cast and three terrific stories...brilliantly observed and brilliantly acted characters.This is wholly original and heartfelt film-making, with understated comedy, and carefully created scenes that speak of the loneliness of living cheek by jowl with millions of others." Dan Carrier, Camden New Journal/West End Extra, Islington Tribune

"Engaging..offers intriguing insights...Three lonely souls in Tehran search for love in this interesting, downbeat comedy-drama from writer-director Ali Jabermansari...the access it gives us to modern life in Tehran is a real thrill."

Cath Clarke, The Guardian

★★★★★ "A beautifully paced tragicomedy by writer-director Ali Jaberansari filmed around the unrequited love experienced by three lonely individuals living in the Iranian capital, Tehran: City of Love presents the charms and challenges of this bustling metropolis."Selina Begum The Upcoming

★★★★ "Dry-as-martini funny and deeply human study of three lovelorn individuals in the Iranian capital"

"What makes Tehran:City of Love so compelling is its good humour and complete lack of pity for its characters, whom it never patronises.  This is a rather lovely and witty film which has an abundance of affection and understanding for its star-crossed triumvirate." Benjamin Poole, The Movie Waffler

Â

"Unfolding in a milieu of private gyms. designer cafes and cosmetic procedures Tehran City of Love possesses a deadpan humour reminiscent of Aki Kaurismaki, while the precisely framed static compositions convey how stifled its characters feel within their lonely lives." Tom Dawson,TOTAL FILM

★★★★"Having impressed with his debut film, Falling Leaves (2013), London Film School graduate Ali Jaberansari reveals the influence of mentor Abbas Kiarostami in this deceptive deadpan drama. Precisely paced and offering shrewd insights into the tension between tradition and progress in modern-day Iran..." David Parkinson, Radio Times

★★★★"Weird and witty, with bucket loads of empathy for its seemingly unlovable protagonists, Tehran: City of Love is an offbeat treat." Chloe Walker, Culture Fly

"A sweet and sour tale of everyday life. The highs, the lows, the disappointments and the triumphs. A wholly unexpected and a slightly daring glimpse into the unknown world of relationships in the Iranian capital. Ali Jaberansari’s tale is told with plenty of humour and an off-kilter candor which makes it hard not to like." Rob Aldam, Backstreetmafia.com

"Everything in this bittersweet ironically entitled film about unrequited love will confound your expectations. For starters, you do not expect an Iranian film to have that wistful, deadpan-comic style of Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki or American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. " Joyce Glasser, Mature Times

Read Interview with Ali Jaberansari on Fan Carpet

Download photo set

Download Pressbook

Trailer on YouTube - link or embed

Trailer on Vimeo - link or download mp4

Download full size trailer ProRes

Download quad poster - high res jpg

Ali Jaberansari  website

Â

For film bookings please contact Colin Burch at Verve Pictures — [email protected]. Press resources are on the Press page.