ODYSSEY OF SOLITUDE
Odyssey of Solitude
(Ahmad be tanhaei)
Written and Directed by: Hossein Mahkam
Producer: Hossein Mahkam
Executive Producers: Mehdi Firouzan, Saleh Moazzenzade
Co-producer: Sandro Zelari
DoP: Hossein Mokarrami
Editor: Samane Sezavar
Music: Ankido Darash
Costume & Production Designer: Amir Hossein Davani
Sound: Hossein Abolsedq
Make-up: Abbas Abbasi
Cast: Soheil Mostajabian (Ahmad), Baran Kosari (Unknown Girl), Mahmoud Kalari (Father), Shahrokh Foroutanian (Bahram), Soroush Sehat (Abed), Babak Karimi (Victor).
Iran / Italy, 2022, Red Scarlett, 4k, DCP, 1:1.85, 5.1, 94 mins.
Language(s): Farsi
Synopsis:
Ahmad is a psychiatrist, believing in the treatment of the soul with the medicine in a positivistic and laboratorial way. But when his wife goes missing, he gets involved in his own delusions. Trying hard to find a trace of her, he goes to all of his friends. He desperately tries to act as a very democratic person, giving priority to his wife’s joy and pleasures. He is even willing to show that he would be happy if his wife marries one of his friends since he thinks the other one would be able to make her happier. But it seems that she’s notified that the matter of her happiness is absolutely not dependent on a “man”. Thus he sees that all his scientific beliefs are collapsed…
Director’s View:
In this film, every individual deals with a single subject, “woman”, in his own way. It seems that the film is all about the women, but actually there are no important women characters except for a young girl in an elevator at beginning and closing of the film – however she, as the only important female character, is not real. She is only embodied in Ahmad’s mind.
The philosophical attention to the nature of femininity is one the most important concerns in cinema. I believe that cinema and philosophy are always intertwined. So for me, it’s been one of the main subjects to peruse.
Director’s Profile:
Born in Tehran in 1980, Hossein Mahkam is a graduate of Philosophy from Tehran University. He’s a veteran theater playwright and director who’s directed several stage productions. He’s already written and published four books of short stories and he’s teaching scriptwriting in film schools as well. As a scriptwriter, he has worked with outstanding Iranian directors such as Abdolreza Kahani (in ADAM, TWENTY and NOTHING), Rkhashan Bani Etemad (in SEE YOU ELENA), Mehdi Rahmani (in SNOW), Vahid Jalilvand (in WEDNESDAY, MAY 9) and Yadollah Samadi (in ANOTHER’S FATHER).
Feature Films: 2013- Parole; 2018- Andranic; 2019- Numbness; 2022- Odyssey of Solitude.
Festivals & Awards:
1- Asian Film Festival – Barcelona (November 2023 / Spain).
- Discoveries Competition.
2- Asia Pacific Film Festival (November 2023 / Macau, China).
- Competition.
- Best Editing Nominee.
3- Cyrus International Film Festival (December 2023 / Canada).
- Main Competition.
World Sales:
Sales: mohammad@irimageco.com
Festivals: kamyar@irimageco.com