Narges Kalhor was born and raised in Tehran in 1984. After graduating from high school in 2001, she began studying feature film directing at the Tehran Film Academy. She was mentored by various well-known filmmakers such as Abbas Kiarostami. In 2007, she continued her studies in visual communication at the Kamalolmolk Uni - versity. At the same time, she worked as a film editor at the advertising film agency ARASB in Tehran and shot five short films. In 2009, Narg - es Kalhor participated in the Nuremberg Inter - national Human Rights Film Festival (NIHRFF) in Nuremberg with her short film “DIE EGGE”. Her application for political asylum attracted inter - national attention due to her being the daughter of the highest-ranking cultural advisor to the then Iranian President Ahmadinehjad.
Director Narges Shahid Kalhor casts an actress to help change her family name, shedding the martyrdom of “Shahid.” But her long-dead, heroic great-grandfather reappears to stop her. As reality, fiction, and genres collide, tensions erupt between the director, actress, and ancestor. Bureaucracy, stubborn wills, and artistic chaos unravel the plan, humorously challenging radical ideologies and the film itself.
Noah Schuller, Antonia Meier, Lilli Pongratz, Rakim Hazaz, Armin Makumbo, Thomas Hupfer
DoP Felix Pflieger Editors Frank J Müller, Narges Kalhor Music Marja Burchard Sound Design Philipp Huter
Michael Kalb
Narges Kalhor, Aydin Alinejadsomeeh