A project we first profiled in February this year, after being alerted to its Kickstarter campaign to that raised over $100,000 towards completion costs!
It later made its World Premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the summer, played a few more film festivals and screening series after that, and is now heading towards its official commercial theatrical release here in the USA.
Titled The Iran Job, the feature doc centers on Kevin Sheppard, a pro American basketball player, who accepts a contract to play in Iran; and further…
What begins as a typical job-for-hire, ends in an emotional roller coaster as Kevin forms an unlikely alliance with three Iranian women against the backdrop of revolutionary upheaval in Tehran. Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they discuss everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin’s season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the currently unfolding Arab Spring.
I learned that the filmmaker behind the project, Till Schauder, had been working on the film since about 2008.
Jasmin saw it at the Los Angeles Film Festival this summer, and she reviewed on S&A HERE. In short, she gave it a thumbs up!
From the National Black Programming Consortium's upcoming season 5 of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange, The Iran Job opens theatrically at the IFC Center in NYC this Friday, October 12.
The film has received national press attention, including Oscar buzz. Concurrent with their theatrical release, the filmmakers, Till Schauder and Sara Nodjoumi are also running a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to finance the expansion of the release into other cities across America.
Thus far, they've raised over $16,000 of their $30,000 goal, with 16 days to go. To learn more and contribute, click HERE.
The filmmakers will also be present, in person, at certain screenings during its theatrical run at the IFC. Click HERE for more info on that.
Check out the promo trailer below for a glimpse at what to expect (full poster underneath):
