It's Winter
a RAFI PITTS picture
Synopsis
A generation torn between wanting to leave its country yet bound by blood to its homeland. Khatoun, a beautiful, young woman and her daughter are left to cope on their own after her husband, believing he has no other options to earn a living then to go abroad, fails to return. Marhab, a charismatic and confident young man arrives in town, looking for work as a mechanic. He befriends another young man in an inn, and introduces himself as a specialist in repairing cranes. His new friend fixes him up with a job at his own workplace. One day, in the market place, his eyes wander on to the beautiful Khatoun, whom he discovers apparently no longer has a husband. The film charts his determination to win her heart and what their lives become from one winter to the next one, with all its tragic twists and turns.
Trailer
Stills
Press
"A striking blend of raw realism and poetic lyricism."
TIME OUT
"An austerely beautiful parable…This is a deeply considered and wonderfully composed film…Rafi Pitts has made a film that aspires to distill the eternal truths of myth from a contemporary narrative and compound these into visual poetry. The result is impressive and rewarding."
THE GUARDIAN
"Although non-political, this frosty window into a country that has become almost closed to Western eyes, easily conveys the futility of winning hearts and minds through rhetoric. In purely cinematic terms, it has a quiet, stark beauty and a fragility of construction as one character unknowingly supplants another only to repeat a cycle that has as its end in unthinkable personal despair. It is a style that is not easy to relate to but one that is as fresh and crisp as anything that has come out of a land that cinema has sometimes almost forgotten."
EYE FOR FILM
"Pitts is unafraid to break the Iranian taboo of representing sexual desire on celluloid."
BBC
Festivals
& Awards
Berlin International Film Festival
In Competition
Locarno Film Festival
Valladolid Film Festival
Silver Spike
Best Cinematography
Damascus Film Festival
Golden Award
Fajr Film Festival
Best Cinematographer
Best Sound Recorder
Paris Cinema
Young Filmmaker Award
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Prague Febiofest
Melbourne Film Festival
Edinburgh Film Festival
Seoul Film Festival
Vienna Film Festival
Palm Springs Film Festival
New Voices, New Visions,
Grand Jury Prize for Best Director
Cast & Crew
| Mitra Hadjar | |
|---|---|
| Ali Niksolat | |
| Saeed Orkani | |
| Hashem Abdi | |
| Zahra Jafari | |
| Naser Madahi | |
| Safari Ghassemi |
| Writer and Director | Rafi Pitts |
|---|---|
| Based on the story | « Safar » by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi |
| Producer | Mohammad Mehdi Dadgoo |
| Executive Producer | Fereshteh Taerpour |
| Cinematographer | Mohammad Davoodi |
| Editor | Hassan Hassandoost |
| Sound | Yadollah Nadjafi, Naser Shokohinia |
| Music | Hossein Alizadeh & Mohammad Reza Shajarian |
| Production Manager | Shahnam Shabazadeh |
| Art Director | Malak D. Khazai |
Releases