Hemlock The Unfinished Song

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Because of a customs problem, we are not showing Parviz Shahbazi's Whispers. Instead, tonight's screening begins with Behrooz Afkhami's Hemlock, a suspensful drama that's been described as an Iranian version of Fatal Attraction. Director Behrooz Afkhami, who won a seat in the Iranian Parliament last year, offers Western viewers a glimpse of the more commercial side of Iranian cinema. His suspenseful drama Hemlock revolves around family man and factory manager Mahmoud (Fariborz Arab-Nia), who meets a beautiful nurse (Hedieh Tehrani) while visiting a coworker injured in a mysterious crash. Their tempestuous affair leads to a surprise ending made exciting by Hitchcockian twists along the way. (2000; 86 min.)

In Maziar Miri's The Unfinished Song, a young musicologist travels to northeastern Iran to record increasingly rare folk songs sung by women. The film ran into difficulties with censors for its focus on the solo female voice, which is officially banned in Iranian media. (2001; 93 mins.)