Santouri Introduced by Dariush Mehrjui

“One of Iran's most accomplished and courageous filmmakers for four decades.”—Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

The film follows Ali, a talented musician who plays the santur (a traditional Iranian hammered dulcimer), as his life unravels due to heroin addiction. Disowned by his family for choosing music as a profession, and banned from playing in public by the government, Ali eventually loses everything, including the woman he loves.

Santouri won the Best Actor and the Audience award at the 2008 Fajr Film Festival—held under the guidance of the Iranian Ministry of Culture—but was then banned indefinitely before screening publicly in Tehran. Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui is the director of such influential films as The Cow and Leila. He visited the Wexner Center in 1998 to introduce The Pear Tree. With Bahram Radan and Golshifteh Farahani (Body of Lies). (106 mins., 35mm)