SUBJECTS

Child abuse -- Iran -- Drama, Fathers and daughters -- Iran -- Drama, Girls -- Iran -- Drama

The Apple

(Sib)

Imported 35mm Print
Film to Table dinner follows

featuring

Massoumeh Naderi, Zahra Naderi, Ghorbanali Naderi, Azizeh Mohamadi,

After the screening, enjoy a Film to Table dinner at Babette, the cafe at BAMPFA. Join an intimate group of fellow filmgoers for a four-course, prix-fixe meal in a convivial, dinner-party atmosphere. Purchase dinner tickets in advance at babettecafe.com (film tickets must be purchased separately).

Samira Makhmalbaf’s directorial debut (at age seventeen) blends a fictionalized plot over a shocking real-life tale of two sisters whose parents had locked them in their home for their entire lives, to “protect” them like flowers. Convincing the entire family to “play” themselves, Makhmalbaf showcases the girls’ first steps toward the outside world, all while subtly undermining every audience preconception of not only the parents’ ethical motives, but the filmmakers’. Comic and richly poetic at moments, the film is also deeply questioning about cinema’s role in documenting (or manipulating) reality. “Experimental docudrama, open-ended essay, The Apple is a remarkable movie” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice). As a work made by a young female director investigating female emancipation, it also shows, as critic Shahala Mossavar-Rahmani underlines, “the quiet but unshakable determination of this feminine side of Iran, which is constantly fighting against all forms of political, cultural, and religious authoritarianism.”

Jason Sanders
FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • Samira Makhmalbaf
  • Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Cinematographer
  • Ebrahim Ghafori
  • Mohammad Ahmadi
Language
  • Farsi
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • 35mm
  • 85 mins
Source
  • MK2
CINEFILES

CineFiles is an online database of BAMPFA's extensive collection of documentation covering world cinema, past and present.

View The Apple documents  

The apple (distributor materials), New Yorker Films, 2000

De appel (program note), Rotterdam Film Festival, 1999

The apple (review), Sight and Sound, John Mount, 1999

Quietly ruling the roost (interview), Sight and Sound, Sheila Johnston, 1999

Apples and angels (review), East Bay Express, Kelly Vance, 1999

Apple tells extraordinary story in modern-day Iran (review), Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas, 1999

Global village people (review), Village Voice, J. Hoberman, 1999

Sib (program note), Toronto International Film Festival, Kay Armatage, 1998

La pomme (program note), Cannes Film Festival, 1998

The apple (program note), Telluride Film Festival, 1998

Displaying 10 of 17 publicly available documents.


View all The Apple documentation on CineFiles.