UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema: Mortician (2025)

Please note: Registration does not guarantee entry if the event reaches capacity. Admission is granted on a first come, first served basis.

Patrons who have registered will need to obtain their free tickets at the box office, where seating will be assigned. Any seats remaining 15 minutes before showtime will be released to standby patrons

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Guest speaker: director Abdolreza Kahani (via video).

Canada, 2025

Winner of the audience-voted Sean Connery Prize at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Mortician is set in Canada where a schlubby émigré, Mojtaba (Nima Sadr), performs Islamic ritual washing of the dead as a cultural service of the Iranian government. When he loses his job he wonders how he’ll continue to send money to his family back home until an enigmatic, exiled pop star (Gola), an outspoken opponent of the regime, hires him to help her with one last public protest. The oddest of couples, they find common ground amidst the cold Canadian winter until their secret is exposed in writer-director Abdolreza Kahani’s slow-burn thriller.

DCP, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 95 min. Director/Screenwriter: Abdolreza Kahani. With: Nima Sadr, Gola, Pouya Razavi.

Preceded by

Farhang Short Film Festival 2nd prize winner

Iran, 2024

A visually striking story of a small town tragedy, Abraham follows a local policeman who stumbles into a family secret while investigating the M**der of a young man whose body is found in a cave outside the city.

DCP, color, in Persian with English subtitles,14 min. Directors/Screenwriters: Elnaz Ghaderpour, Reza Gamini. With: Hamid Pour Azari, Sajad Afsharian, Safoora Khoshtinat.

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