When God Sleeps | |
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Directed by | Till Schauder |
Produced by | Till Schauder, Sara Nodjoumi |
Music by | Max Avery Lichtenstein |
Release date | 2017 |
Running time | 1h 28m |
When God Sleeps is a 2017 documentary directed by Till Schauder and produced by Schauder and Sara Nodjoumi. It centers around exiled Iranian musician Shahin Najafi, whose provocative lyrics resulted in Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani and Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi issuing separate fatwa against Najafi for apostasy. [1] [2] [3]
The film premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival [4] and received a German theatrical release beginning 12 October 2017. [5]
Taking place in Germany throughout 2015, the documentary focuses on Shahin Najafi's life in exile as he struggles to produce music and embark on a tour whilst under the constant threat of danger. His long-distance romance with Leili Bazargan, the granddaughter of Mehdi Bazargan, Iran's first Prime Minister following the Iranian Revolution, also complicates things due to his status as an outspoken critic of Islam.
It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on 20 April 2017 [4] and also received a limited German theatrical release in select cities beginning 12 October 2017. [5] Aside from Tribeca, the film has screened at Munich Film Festival, [6] Kraków Film Festival, [7] and the UNHCR Refugee Film Festival, [8] among others. It is also an official selection for IDFA 2017, to take place starting 15 November. [9]
Ebrahim Yazdi was an Iranian politician, pharmacist, and diplomat who served as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the interim government of Mehdi Bazargan, until his resignation in November 1979, in protest at the Iran hostage crisis. From 1995 until 2017, he headed the Freedom Movement of Iran. Yazdi was also a trained cancer researcher.
Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee their country as a result of wars, persecution, torture or genocide. The 1978 Saur Revolution followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion marked the first major wave of internal displacement and international migration to neighboring Iran and Pakistan; smaller numbers also went to India or to countries of the former Soviet Union. Between 1979 and 1992, more than 20% of Afghanistan's population fled the country as refugees. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, many returned to Afghanistan, however many Afghans were again forced to flee during the civil war in the 90s. Over 6 million Afghan refugees were residing in Iran and Pakistan by 2000. Most refugees returned to Afghanistan following the 2001 United States invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime. Between 2002 and 2012, 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan, increasing the country's population by 25%.
Secularism in Iran was established as state policy shortly after Rezā Shāh was crowned Shah in 1925. He made any public display or expression of religious faith, including the wearing of the headscarf (hijab) and chador by women and wearing of facial hair by men illegal. Public religious festivals and celebrations were banned, Shia clergy were forbidden to preach in extremist ideas.
The Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as emigrants or refugees, and is now one of the largest in modern times, being described by the UN as a "humanitarian crisis" caused by the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 invasion of Iraq and by the ensuing war.
There have been many waves of refugees and emigrants from Iraq since the late 1970s until the present. Major events the modern history of Iraq resulted in the flight of what are now millions of Iraqis: more than three decades of repression and occasional violent attacks and massacres against the Kurdish population in the north and the Shi'a in the south perpetrated by Saddam Hussein's regime, the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988, the 1991 Gulf War, the economic sanctions that lasted from 1991 until the toppling of Saddam Hussein, and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Many organizations, parties and guerrilla groups were involved in the Iranian Revolution. Some were part of Ayatollah Khomeini's network and supported the theocratic Islamic Republic movement, while others did not and were suppressed when Khomeini took power. Some groups were created after the fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty and still survive; others helped overthrow the Shah but no longer exist.
Following the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and his regime by revolutionaries in February 1979, Iran was in a "revolutionary crisis mode" from this time until 1982 or 1983 when forces loyal to the revolution's leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, consolidated power. During this period, Iran's economy and the apparatus of government collapsed; its military and security forces were in disarray.
Shahin or Shaheen, is a male or female given name which is the generic term for hawk or falcon, although in specific, the peregrine falcon. The name Shaheen/Shahin is a composite of two nouns, "shah" - king and "īn" - which is a sign of proportion, freedom,or "royal", literally "king of the birds"
Morteza Najafipoor Moghaddam, better known as Shahin Najafi, is an Iranian musician, singer, composer, poet, author, and political activist.
Illusion is the second studio album by the Iranian rapper and singer-songwriter, Shahin Najafi as a solo artist after leaving Tapesh 2012. It was officially released on 19 September 2009 by the German-Iranian Pamas-Verlag publishing house.
The Queen and I is a 2008 Swedish-made documentary feature film about Farah Pahlavi, the former Queen and Empress of Iran. The film was produced and directed by Iranian-Swedish filmmaker Nahid Persson Sarvestani. The film follows the former queen and empress and the director, a former communist, as they share ideas and concerns about the country they were both forced to leave after the revolution.
The Interim Government of Iran was the first government established in Iran after the Iranian Revolution. The regime was headed by Mehdi Bazargan, one of the members of the Freedom Movement of Iran, and formed on the order of Ruhollah Khomeini on 4 February 1979. From 4 to 11 February, Bazargan and Shapour Bakhtiar, the Shah's last Prime Minister, both claimed to be the legitimate prime minister; Bakhtiar fled on 11 February. Mehdi Bazargan was the prime minister of the interim government and introduced a seven-member cabinet on 14 February 1979. Ebrahim Yazdi was elected as the Foreign Minister.
Till Schauder, is a German-born American filmmaker, film director, screenplay writer, film producer, actor and film instructor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and co-producer, Sara Nodjoumi.
Babak Najafi Karami is an Iranian-Swedish film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He is known for directing the 2016 film London Has Fallen.
The Fajr decade is a ten-day celebration of Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran in 1979. The annual celebration is held between 1 and 11 February. Its beginning coincides with the date of Khomeini's arrival and ending with the Iranian Revolution; a day called Islamic Revolution's Victory Day or 22 of Bahman.
Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami is a Sundance Award-winning Iranian documentary filmmaker who was born in Tehran. She has directed one full-length documentary, four short documentaries and one animated documentary.
Marji', literally meaning "source to follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and clerics below him in rank. The highest ranking marjiʿ is known as the marja al-mutlaq or marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq. A Marji' is also, or usually is also, a Grand Ayatollah.
Mostafa Heravi is an Iranian filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist currently residing in Netherlands.
Shahin Parhami was an Iranian-Canadian film director, writer, editor, and cinematographer based in Montreal, Quebec. He is best known for his work on the documentaries Amin and Shahrzaad's Tale.