The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents Neither/Nor, True/False’s second annual exploration of “chimeric” cinema, i.e. filmmaking that contains elements of fiction and nonfiction. In this edition, esteemed film critic Godfrey Cheshire introduces us to the self-reflexive Iranian cinema of the 1990s. Godfrey has curated four films, which will be screened from Feb. 26 – March 1 at Ragtag Cinema. He has also written a monograph about Iranian cinema, which will be available for free at the Ragtag box office starting the week of Feb. 24. All Neither/Nor screenings are free. If you have questions about the series, check out the ticketing details here, or feel free to email Chris Boeckmann at [email protected].

Schedule of Events:

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6pm reception, 7pm movie, Big Ragtag
MOVING MIDWAY — Neither/Nor Kickoff Meet & Greet
Please join Godfrey Cheshire for a series kick-off reception. Then Godfrey will present his 2007 film Moving Midway about his family’s North Carolina plantation. “Cheshire refuses to look away, no matter how complicated things get. In fact, it’s the tangled, tortured roots that most inspire him, turning this deeply personal film into a potent meditation on our nation’s past.” (Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News)

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6:30pm, Big Ragtag
CLOSE-UP  
dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 98 min.
In this 1990 landmark, director Abbas Kiarostami takes a bizarre case of identity theft and convinces its real-life subjects to participate in a creative reenactment. Hossain Sabzian is a young, underemployed lover of cinema. One day while riding a bus, he meets a woman and convinces her that he is film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. When she is confused why such a famous man would be riding public transit, Sabzian explains that it’s important to draw inspiration from the real world. Under this pretense, he worms his way into her family’s home and bank account. When the family starts to become suspicious, they invite an ambitious journalist to come investigate.

Thursday, Feb 27, 5:30pm, Big Ragtag
A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE
dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996.
In 1974, when Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf was a 17-year-old anti-Shah militant, he stabbed a policeman at a rally. Makhmalbaf found himself in prison for six years, while the police officer suffered serious injuries. Many years later, after Makhmalbaf had found fame as a director, he ran into the same police officer during a film shoot, and they agreed to collaborate on a film. In the brilliantly structured A Moment of Innocence, we witness the two men as they work together to recreate this incident. As they go about this process, we discover that the men have very different memories of what transpired on that pivotal day.

Friday, Feb 28, 12:30pm, Big Ragtag
THE MIRROR  
dir. Jafar Panahi, 1997, 93 min.
In the center of Tehran, as the day comes to a close, a young first-grader named Mina (played by Mina Mohammad-Khani) walks out of her school and discovers that her mother is nowhere to be found. Impatient, and with one arm in a sling, she decides to find her own way home. Mina boards a bus and listens in on the various conversations unfolding around her. That bus, it turns out, is heading the wrong direction. Eventually, all of a sudden, a frustrated Mina does something surprising. Jafar Panahi, then a protégé of Close-Up director Abbas Kiarostami, directed this playfully reflexive 1997 film.

Saturday, Mar 1, 10:30am, Big Ragtag
THE APPLE  
dir. Samira Makhmalbaf, 1999, 86 min.
Directed by a then 17-year-old Samira Makhmalbaf (daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who co-wrote the screenplay), this 1998 film recreates a scandalous news story using the real life participants. In an Iranian neighborhood, a strict, unemployed father and his blind wife keep their 11-year-old twin daughters, Massoumeh and Zahra, locked in their house. After neighbors complain to the welfare ministry, a social worker comes to release them. Makhmalbaf’s quasi-documentary follows Massoumeh and Zahra as they receive their first taste of freedom and observes their father as he sits behind bars, reflecting on his actions. Makhmalbaf’s auspicious debut is a profoundly unsettling exploration of patriarchy. Screens with “The House Is Black” (Forough Farrokhzad, 1963, 22 min.).

Saturday, Mar 1, 8:30pm, Big Ragtag 
CLOSE-UP (Encore Screening)
dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 98 min.
In this 1990 landmark, director Abbas Kiarostami takes a bizarre case of identity theft and convinces its real-life subjects to participate in a creative reenactment. Hossain Sabzian is a young, underemployed lover of cinema. One day while riding a bus, he meets a woman and convinces her that he is film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. When she is confused why such a famous man would be riding public transit, Sabzian explains that it’s important to draw inspiration from the real world. Under this pretense, he worms his way into her family’s home and bank account. When the family starts to become suspicious, they invite an ambitious journalist to come investigate.