Phobos

Based on Wim Wenders' unique approach and under his mentorship, six Iranian films were created as part of the “A Sense of Place” project. A destroyed city on the Persian Gulf forms the starting point for a cinematic experiment that deals with the traces of war in collective and personal memory. In her work, the director combines documentary fragments with an artistic visual language to translate her own experience into a visual state of alienation. The starting point is the recurring memory of Bushehr, an Iranian coastal city that was the target of military attacks during the Iran-Iraq War. The cinematic approach remains deliberately associative, using visual overlays to weave together memory and the present. PHOBOS processes real war experiences in an experimental short film form. Without conventional dramaturgy, the production relies on cinematic abstraction to create a feeling of placelessness. The visual structure resembles a search movement through familiar but alienated spaces. The combination of documentary material and surreal sequences opens up a visual reflection on loss, fear, and spatial orientation. HOLLOW, by Iranian director Mina Keshavarz, was made in 2023 as an international co-production in collaboration with the Wim Wenders Foundation. The film was included in the program section “Iran: A Sense of Place” and was presented at major international festivals such as CPH:DOX, BelDox, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Linz International Film Festival, and the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. Screenings followed in 2024 at Sinema Transtopia Berlin, the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival, and the Iranian Film Festival in Paris, among others.