America So Beautiful

It’s Los Angeles, 1979, and the American dream calls out from behind every disco door. Houshang, a young Iranian immigrant, will do just about anything to get past the velvet ropes and into the world he aches to be a part of. On the night that Americans are taken hostage in Iran, Houshang is working in his uncle’s Persian market, dreaming to own a share of one night at a glittery disco through a deal with an old family friend, Sahmi – if he can just come up with the money.

Houshang’s friends and relatives are skeptical of his plans. They are a group of expatriates subtly feeling the pressure and suffering the consequences of global revolutionary events back home. Hamid, Houshang’s cousin, wants to marry a society girl in the Iranian community to raise the status of his family name. Maryam, Hamid’s sister, just can’t wait to start living on her own.

Parviz, a cabby who came to study medicine, has blown all his savings and now tries to scrape up enough money to get back home to his family in Iran, returning “proud, not poor.” Bahman, just having fled the fiery streets of Tehran, has come to California looking for a new beginning.
Houshang decides to show them all a piece of his dream by taking them out for a night at the disco. But as dreams collide, they encounter a night of surprise and transformation, filled with disappointment, hilarity, pain, confusion and revelation. Set against the escalating hostage crisis, Houshang’s desperate night for assimilation becomes a moving search for identity, culture and a sobering look at the American dream.

Café Transit

An independently-minded Iranian widow and mother flouts tradition by re-opening her late husband's Europe/Asia border café in this socially-oriented drama from director Kambozia Partovi. In the wake of her husband's death, Reyhan (Fereshtei Sadre Orafaei) longs to re-open her late spouse's café despite rigid social standards that explicitly discourage her from doing so. Isolated from her friends and neighbors for her headstrong efforts to get the business back on her feet, Reyhan also faces pressure from her conservative brother-in-law Nasser (Parviz Parastoei) — who longs to take Reyhan as his second wife as permitted by custom. Despite Nasser's vengeful efforts to break Reyhan's spirit and put her out of business, Reyhan's culinary skills soon begin drawing a healthy clientèle that includes kindly Greek trucker Zakariyo (Nikolas Padapopoulis); whose relationship with the determined restaurateur may provide an exit from her current crisis.

Written and Directed by: Kambuzia Partovi
Starring: Vanchos Constantin, Svieta Mikalishina, Nikos Papadopoulos, Parviz Parastui, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy

Babak and Friends

For the first time ever, an Iranian holiday has been given the recognition it deserves in “Babak and Friends - A First Norooz”. The 30-minutes animation tells the journey of a young Iranian boy named Babak and how he learns to connect with his heritage. Raised outside of Iran, Babak has little knowledge of Iranian customs and traditions. Already feeling alienated from his classmates, Babak only feels lonelier when his cousins, Saman and Sousanne, visit from Iran. Enlisting the help of Norooz heavyweights Amoo Norooz and Haji Firooz, Babak is able to learn more about the beautiful traditions of Iran and reconnect to an ancient and grand civilization.

Featuring top Iranian talents, this high-quality animation is an instant classic. The film features the voices of Oscar Nominee Shoreh Aghdashloo, Catherine Bell, Ali Pourtash and legendary Iranian actor, Parviz Sayyad. “Babak and Friends - A First Norooz” also features the popular Norooz song “Norooz-e Ziba-ye Man” by Iranian pop star Aris as well as an all-new, never before-released Norooz song by famed Iranian pop singer, Andy.
Written, Produced and Directed by: Dustin Ellis

Written, Produced and Directed by: Dustin Ellis
Starring: Shoreh Aghdashloo, Cathrine Bell, Ali Pourtash, Parviz Sayyad
Music: Aris, Andy

Bonbast (Dead End)

A young woman is living with her mother at the end of a dead-end street. The young woman notices that a man standing in the street stares into her room every day. After a while, she gets used to his presence and falls in love with him. As the mysterious man slowly enters the girls household and becomes a friend. However the girl finds that the man is a government agent sent to arrest his brother who is a political activist hiding from the government.

Written, Produced, and Directed by: Parviz Sayyad
Starring: Mary Apick and Parviz Bahador

2007 DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT