Iranian films able to strike a universal chord

For the last 18 years, the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s Celebration of Iranian Cinema has gone beyond the headlines of the troubled Middle Eastern country to reveal that, despite cultural differences, Iranians have the same hopes, desires and problems as we do.

“While I think a lot of these films speak to larger human issues that we all deal with, they are still deeply rooted in a specific context,” says Paul Malcolm, who programmed the 19th edition of the festival, which beings Saturday. “They resonate in many different ways with many different audiences, which is one of the great things about the series.”

Despite political upheavals in the country, Malcolm believes that “over the last 20 years, the rise and emergence of this contemporary Iranian film industry is one of the great stories of international film production.”

“I don’t want to make any kind of political comment about the government of Iran, but the films this year show us a pretty wide range of experiences of the people living in Iran,” Malcolm adds.

Among the noted contemporary Iranian art-house filmmakers who have made a splash on the international scene are Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Majid Majidi, Bahram Beizai and Dariush Mehrjui.

Majidi’s 2008 film “The Song of Sparrows,” which was the country’s official submission for the best foreign-language film Oscar, is screening at the festival Feb. 13. It’s a seriocomic tale of a man who becomes a taxi driver in Tehran after losing his job at an ostrich farm when one of the birds flies the coop. But as the man becomes more obsessed with material goods, he loses sight of his family.

“Majidi is just brilliant,” Malcolm says. “There are so many layers in this movie.”

Malcolm is especially taken with “7 Blind Women Filmmakers,” in which director Mohammad Shirvani brought together seven blind women to participate in a yearlong filmmaking workshop.

“Then he gave them cameras to document their lives,” Malcolm says. “I think it’s an amazing film for what it tells us and helps us understand what it means to be blind in Iran specifically, but also blind in general. It raises a lot of interesting issues about the nature of cinema. The framing is haphazard, and where the camera is aimed often seems random. I think it’s really profound in what it shows us about courage, perseverance and, from a cinephiles’ point of view, the nature of cinema itself.”

Other highlights in the festival include:

“3 Women”: Directed by Manijeh Hekmat, this drama starring the acclaimed Niki Karimi revolves around three generations of Iranian women who search for meaning in their lives.

“A Light in the Fog”: A woman caring for her ailing father in a mountain village refuses to believe that her husband, who has been missing for years after the Iran-Iraq war, is dead. When a local bachelor asks for her hand in marriage, she must deal with her grief and move on with her life. Panahbarkhoda Rezaee directs.

“Among the Clouds”: A teen romance directed by Rouhollah Hejazi that turns into a thriller, this film focuses on a 16-year-old boy who earns money at the Iran-Iraq border by carrying the luggage of tourists and pilgrims. But when he falls for a young woman who frequently crosses the border, he gets caught in dangerous intrigue between the two countries.

“Lonely Tunes of Tehran”: A buddy comedy directed by Saman Salour about two cousins -- a physically deformed fast talker and a shellshocked war veteran -- who earn a meager living by installing illegal satellite dishes in Tehran.

“It’s bittersweet,” Malcolm says of “Lonely Tunes,” which opens the festival. “These lonely outsiders need love and friendship and are struggling to find it.”

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susan.king@latimes.com

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Celebration of Iranian Cinema

Where: Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood

When: Saturday to Feb. 21

Price: $10 online, $7 to $9 at the door

Contact: (310) 206-8013, www.cinema.ucla.edu

Schedule:

Saturday: “Lonely Tunes of Tehran,” 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2: “Among the Clouds,” 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 8: “A Light in the Fog,” 7 p.m.

Feb. 10: “Women in Shroud,” 7 p.m. (presented with Hammer Museum; free admission)

Feb. 13: “The Song of Sparrows,” 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 15: “7 Blind Women Filmmakers,” 7 p.m.

Feb. 20: “3 Women,” 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 21: A selection of short films and video from Iran and the Diaspora, 7:30 p.m.