In Iran, since the revolution of 1979, women are no longer allowed to sing in public as soloists - at least in front of men.
Defying censorship and taboos, the young composer Sara Najafi is determined to organize an official concert for solo female singers. In order to support their fight, Sara and the Iranian singers, Parvin Namazi and Sayeh Sodeyfi, invite three female singers from Paris, Elise Caron, Jeanne Cherhal and Emel Mathlouthi, to join them in Tehran and collaborate on their musical project, re-opening a musical bridge between France and Iran.
But are they going to succeed and finally be gathered in Tehran, sing freely, side-by-side, in front of a mixed audience and without restrictions, and to open a door towards a new freedom of female voice in Iran

Direction: Ayat Najafi

Script: Ayat Najafi

Production: Gunter Hanfgarn, Rouven Rech, Anne Grange, Gunter Hanfgarn

Cinematography: Koohyar Kalari, Sarah Blum

Editing: Julia Wiedwald, Schokofeh Kamiz

Sound: Oliver Stahn

Cast: Sara Najafi, Parvin Namazi, Elise Caron, Jeanne Cherhal, Sayeh Sodeyfi, Emel Mathlouthi

Original Title: NO LAND'S SONG

Original Language: English

Film Production Countries: Germany, France

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/nolandssong

Statement of the Director/s
My sister Sara makes music since the age of 4. Watching her go through the challenges of being a female musician in Iran, and the first woman to get a diploma of composition in Iran, has led me to an awareness of the difficulties facing Iranian women in music in my country today. In this film, I want to shed light on the problems faced by a new generation of Iranian musicians. Sara’s love of music is the most important element in her everyday life. The concert that she wants to organize for and with her friends, is a group effort to confront ourselves with a dream which could finally become reality.
The role of music in all social and political developments in Iran during the 20th century has been crucial. Music represents and gives voice to the desire of each period in Iran’s history. Even though so many female singers have left Iran since the revolution in 1979, many of them still live and work in Iran. The ironic fact that many more young girls attend the music schools than boys is very surprising for me. Why are they learning something considered illegal for them? The film follows step by step the process of organizing a concert in Tehran by questioning from within the system of censorship in Iran. My film highlights the limits of freedom in my native country by interrogating them head on - in front of the camera. In terms of strategy, we have operated during this long shooting, opposing Sara’s determination and "false naivety" to the prohibitions that were opposed to us. We have adopted a "politically correct" posture. This allowed us to film or (secretly) record all stages of Sara’s authorization requests and meetings with departmental officials and religious authorities, and to highlight the logic of the censorship operated by the Iranian regime. As the film follows Sara’s fight to stage the concert, the film brings the interior, the "logic" of Iranian law to light. The musical layer of the film is centered on the revolutionary song "Bird of Dawn" (Morq-e Sahar) which singers will try to give a new voice to. This film is also a tribute Qamar, this legendary female singer who, in the '20s, was able to break taboos in Iranian society and free the female voice, this very same fight Sara and her friends have to lead again now.

Biography of the Director/s
Born in Tehran in 1976 and currently living between Berlin and Iran, Ayat Najafi first studied scenography. In 1995, he set up a company for student theater at the University of Tehran, participating in several workshops led by some masters of Iranian theater. He worked on several theatrical productions as director, writer, actor and designer.
Since 2000 Ayat Najafi developed his directorial work. In 2003, he founded Arta Atelier, focusing on an interdisciplinary and multimedia approach to theater, and made short experimental and documentary films. In 2005, he participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus with his short film Move It (2004). As a student at the University of Konstanz (2008- 2009), he presented his play Stories of women with mustaches and men in skirts. Lady Tehran, his second theatrical production in Germany with an international team, premiered in Berlin in 2009, followed by Pakistan [Does not] exist. In 2008, he made his first feature documentary, Football Under Cover.

FILMOGRAPHY

Football Under Cover, feature documentary, 2008, co-director David Assmann,
86 min (cinema) and 52 min (TV), HD, Production: Flying Moon
• Prix Europa Iris 2009
• Teddy award for Best Documentary – International Film Festival Berlin 2008
• Teddy audience award - International Film Festival Berlin 2008
• Nominated for First Steps Award 2008
• Freedom Award - Outfest 2008, L.A., USA
• Audience Award - Pink Apple, 2008

Awards Won
Special Mention, Krakow FF; Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking, Human Rights Watch FF, London/New York. Special Mention EXBERLINER Prize; Audience Award + Best Documentary, Montreal World FF; Best Director, Noor-FF Los Angeles; Best Documentary, Gijón FF; Youth Jury Award, Dok Leipzig

World Sales:
Illumina Films
Robin Brinster
Haarlemmerdijk 45-A
Amsterdam, 1013, Netherlands
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +31 20 627 3144
Website: http://www.illuminafilms.nl/