Iranian film fest hosted in Sderot celebrates all things Persian

As tensions between Israel and Iran remain high following the 12-day war between the two countries last June, an Israeli with Persian roots is offering a message of unity by organizing Israel’s first Iranian Film Festival.

Titled “Nowruz” after the Persian New Year, the festival will run on November 24 and 25 at the Sderot Cinematheque, examining how culture can bridge people and nations.

While the festival won’t be held on either the Jewish or Persian New Year — Nowruz is celebrated on the spring equinox in March, and the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah is in the early autumn — festival organizer Dana Sameah sees the event as a fresh start for cultural connections.

“We’re putting our hand out, particularly from a place like Sderot that’s going through its own process of rehabilitation; it’s a message that couldn’t be sent from Tel Aviv,” said Sameah. “This festival says that we see the distress of the Iranian people and we embrace that culture.”

Several events will be broadcast live on the festival’s Facebook page, theoretically allowing viewers from Iran to watch and respond in real time — though the Iranian government has blocked access to 70 percent of the internet, including Facebook.

As Sameah began putting together events for the festival and publicizing them on social media, opposition media outlets in the Iranian diaspora got wind of the festival and told Sameah that they plan to review it.

“That really moved me,” said Sameah, who spends “a lot of time” following Persian social media. “We want the Iranians to know about it.”

The 12-day war between Israel and Iran, followed by a sudden, US-brokered ceasefire, left many Iranians worried over what the country’s theocracy may do next.

Sameah wants the Iranian public to know that despite their desperate worries about the country’s future and the possibility of another round of the conflict, there are Israelis who love Iranian culture and cinema.

“If even one Iranian viewer connects to the broadcast and sees us speaking from love, we’ve achieved something truly meaningful,” said Sameah.

Born in Beersheba to Iranian immigrants who arrived in 1978 and met at the city’s absorption center, Sameah has a deep, complex love for Iran, despite never having visited it.

“We were more Iranian at home and more Israeli outside the house,” said Sameah. “For years, I had this dream to create access between Israeli and Iranian culture.”

Sameah, 42, is a spokesperson for the Bnei Shimon regional council in the northern Negev. She has always embraced her Persian roots — she learned how to read and write Farsi after speaking the language at home, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Middle East studies.

“I saw that Iranian street culture was so similar to ours in Israel,” said Sameah. “And I saw the differences between the governments and the people.”

It was last spring that Sameah decided to put together a festival, with a plan to hold it in Sderot, a southern city with a population of 33,000 located less than a mile from the border with the Gaza Strip that was invaded by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

During the October 7 onslaught — which saw some 1,200 people in southern Israel slaughtered and 251 abducted to Gaza — roughly 60 terrorists entered Sderot in pickup trucks and on foot via Routes 232 and 34, the two main highways into the city. They took over Begin Boulevard, Sderot’s main artery, then encircled the police station. In all, the attackers murdered 72 people in Sderot.

“The festival is in Sderot because Israelis should go to the western Negev to support it after October 7,” said Sameah. “Things are calmer now, but when I would go to Sderot for meetings, there were the sounds of war in the background, and imagining that things would improve gave me hope.”

Sderot mayor Alon Davidi, also with a Persian background, loved the idea and connected Sameah to the local Sderot Cinematheque, with its film archive and access to movies for screening.

The focus of the festival is on films produced in Iran or prominently featuring Iranian culture, as the big screen is the easiest way for people to get to know their Iranian counterparts, said Sameah.

There will also be performances of Iranian music, including the Itay Armon Ensemble, which blends traditional Persian music with contemporary sounds.

The opening film is Eran Riklis’ “Reading Lolita in Tehran” followed by a Persian music performance by Hezi Fanian.

The second day of the festival will include lectures, additional screenings, and musical performances, including an open concert by kamancheh player Dor Dloya and a psychedelic Persian music performance by Liraz Charhi.

The festival will conclude with a screening of the award-winning film “The Salesman” by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.

During the festival, Israeli singer Rita will receive a special lifetime achievement award for her long-standing work promoting Iranian culture in Israel and around the world. Professor David Menashri, an expert on Iran, religion and state, and higher education in the Middle East, will also receive an award.

“I’m still getting a lot of comments from people in Israel who are super super excited, who call me from all over, and I hear their excitement that something like this is finally happening,” said Sameah, who had one woman offer to make and hand out homemade Persian cookies at the event.