y
ar
world cinema
document
y
contemporar
heiran (Heiraan) ‘hick’ Town
IRAN
During the post-Soviet period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, almost 3
USA
This intimate look at Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper may not exactly
Director: Shalizeh Arefpour million Afghans fled across the border into Iran, causing prejudicial strife Director: George Hickenlooper qualify as a home movie, but it’s about as close as you’ll get on the
Producers: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, among their hosts. The title character is one such refugee – but far from Producers: R. J. Cutler,
silver screen. That’s because the filmmaker is Hizzoner’s cousin George
Jahangir Kosari
resenting him when he arrives in her village looking for work, 17-year-
Donald Zuckerman, Jeff Chianakas
Hickenlooper – an accomplished documentarian who secured extraordi-
Screenwriters: Shalizeh Arefpour, old Mahi, a successful student from a poor family herself, falls in love. Cinematographers: George nary access to the man Denverites call “Hick” just as the city was gearing
Naghmeh Samini
Hickenlooper, John Mans,
up to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention. (His coproducer is
MS: A to Z
Cinematographer: Hossein Jafarian
Her father, however, is another story. He flies into a violent rage when
H. Ben Morgenthau
R. J. Cutler of War Room fame.)
MS: A to Z
il Editor: Sepideh Abdolvahab
he learns of the relationship and forbids Mahi from seeing Heiran. And
Cast: John Hickenlooper,
il
Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker,
Cast: Baran Kosari, Mehrdad Sedighian, that is only the beginning of the couple’s problems. When they move to
In 2006, Time named Hickenlooper one of the nation’s Five Most Popular
E F
Tom Brokaw, Pat Buchanan
Khosro Shakibaei, Farhad Aslani,
Tehran together, their hard-won bliss is soon threatened again. and Progressive Mayors. What we see here is a human dynamo going
E F
h
Zhaleh Sameti
2009 / color / 132 min. h
T
full-tilt in a real-life version of Spin City – a man trying to keep his city
T
2009 / color / 88 min.
The first narrative feature from documentary filmmaker Shalizeh together in the face of enormously high day-to-day pressure. He jokes
Arefpour, Heiran is a timeless tale of star-crossed lovers thrown into around with predecessor Federico Peña and US Senator Ken Salazar. He
GEorGE hiCKEnLooPEr
turmoil by family differences and cultural circumstances – a modern-day,
George Hickenlooper’s big break
pulls off a trademark line in the company of then-presidential candidate
ShaLizEh arEFPour Middle Eastern Romeo and Juliet. Powerfully understated and simple,
came in 1991 with Hearts of Darkness:
Barack Obama: “I’m the other skinny Democrat with a funny last name.”
A native of Tehran, Shalizeh Arefpour
Heiran shares the graceful compassion for the joys and trials of ordinary A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, which He urges Denver to get out the vote. He parries with Governor Bill
graduated from the Filmmaking
people that has come to be a much-valued hallmark of contemporary
premiered at Cannes. But his
Ritter. He even skydives out of an airplane.
Training Center. In 1990, she began her
Iranian cinema.
fimmaking career started as early as
career in cinema as a script supervisor
adolesence, when he made shorts
and has since worked on 26 films
that aired on public television in St.
Indeed, Hickenlooper the filmmaker (who has also directed, among
as programmer, assistant director,
Louis and Kansas City. Hickenlooper
other films, Hearts of Darkness [SDFF 14], about the nightmarish making
screenwriter, and editor. Her directorial
graduated from Yale University in 1986 of Apocalypse Now) is convinced that Hickenlooper the mayor has got
debut came with the short The Shadow
with a BA in history and film studies.
the goods to be the subject of a marketable TV reality series. Whether
of Moon, and she has since directed
the idea flies or not is anyone’s guess, but there’s no going back now.
three documentaries. Heiran is her
Selected Filmography
narrative feature debut.
“In a moment of weakness,” the mayor reveals, “I let my cousin George
Factory Girl (2006)
Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003)
– one of the greatest documentary filmmakers in America – cajole me
Filmography
The Big Brass Ring (1999)
into letting him film … the life of a big-city mayor. It’s more about
Inside Me (2004)
Dogtown (1997) perspiration than aspiration.”
The Flower in the Dark (2003)
Crosstown Traffic (1995)
Under the Skin of Rain (2001)
Art, Acting, and the Suicide Chair:
Dennis Hopper (1988)
WORlD pREMiERE
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