Radio Dreams

Radio Dreams is a 2016 United States-Iranian film by Iranian born film maker Babak Jalali.[3] Inspired by a group of real life Iranian Metallica fans, calling themselves the Persian Magnetic,[3] and the realities of expatriate life of the Iranian diaspora in the United States, Radio Dreams won the 2016 Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam,[3] and Jalali[2] won the Best Director Award at Tarkovsky Fest in Russia. In 2016 the film was shown at the 32nd Warsaw Film Festival in the "Discoveries" section.[4]

For the Roger Voudouris album, see Radio Dream.
Radio Dreams
Radio Dreams promotional poster
رویاهای رادیویی
Directed byBabak Jalali[1]
Produced byMarjaneh Moghimi[1]
Written byBabak Jalali, Aida Ahadiany[1]
CinematographyNoaz Deshe[1]
Production
company
Butimar[1]
Distributed byReel Suspects[1]
Release date
  • February 1, 2016 (2016-02-01) (Rotterdam)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
Iran
LanguagePersian
BudgetUS$ 300,000[2]

Plot

Hamid Royani is the station manager at Pars Radio, the Bay Area's premiere Persian language radio station. As everyone at Pars looks forward to a continuously delayed jam session by Afghan rock band Kabul Dreams with metal legends Metallica, Royani despairs. As a respected man of the arts in his homeland, he must struggle against the commercial demands of the station's owners; erudite and eloquent in his own tongue, he must face the ups and downs of everyday life in a land where he can hardly speak the language.

Cast
  • Mohsen Namjoo as Hamid Royani
  • Lars Ulrich as himself
  • Boshra Dastournezhad as Maral Afshar
  • Kabul Dreams (Sulyman Qardash, Siddique Ahmed, Raby Adib) as themselves
  • Bella Warda as Sherbet
  • Mohammad Talani as Reza Gerami
  • Babak Mortazavi as Jamshid
  • Mahmood Schricker as Morad
  • Keyumars Hakim as Sohrab Afshar
  • Leila Shahrestani as Leila Shahrestani
  • Ali Tahbaz as Yashar
  • Mansur Taeed as Dr. Jim Rakhshandeh
  • Larry Laverty as TV reporter
  • Kyle Kernan as wrestling coach
  • Casimir Carothers as little drumming boy
  • Fat Dog as guitar salesman
  • Litz Plummer as opera singer

Production

Marjaneh Moghimi, a producer of community documentaries, was looking to produce her first fictional feature and approached Babak Jalali to helm it.[2] A personal friend of Mohsen Namjoo, Moghimi introduced him to Jalali;[2] at the same time Kabul Dreams had just decided to relocate to the United States, and around these cast members the story was written. With a minimal budget of US$300,000, a virtue was made of necessity and the story that developed staged the action within the span of a day within the confines of a radio station.[2] This setting in turn was to play a part in the lighting and camera setups used by cinematographer Noaz Deshe.[1] The design of the film poster was made by Alexis Ink, an illustrator hired by design agency ceft and company new york.[5] Art Direction completed by Christian Hamrick.

Reception

Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "Presenting a nuanced, intelligent and consistently droll take on hot-button subjects of immigration, identity and cultural assimilation..." and that it "stand[s] comparison with the finest radio-themed enterprises of the current century..."[1]

Writing in Variety, critic Catherine Bray called the film a "quietly satisfying gem..." and a "deserving Tiger competition winner at Rotterdam..."[6]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient Result
2016 International Film Festival Rotterdam Tiger Award Radio Dreams Won[3][6]

See also

References
  1. Young, Niel (3 February 2016). "'Radio Dreams': Rotterdam Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  2. Goodfellow, Melanie (31 January 2016). "Tiger directors: Babak Jalali, 'Radio Dreams'". Screen Daily. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. Griffiths, Michael (4 March 2016). "Metallica and their secret 'Persian Magnetic' fans ignoring the ban on metal music in Iran". The Independent. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  4. https://wff.pl/en/film/radio-dreams%7C Radio Dreams at the 32nd Warsaw Film Festival.
  5. "collateral: radio dreams film poster design for butimar productions | ceft and company new york". www.ceftandcompany.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  6. Bray, Catherine (10 February 2016). "Film Review: 'Radio Dreams'". Variety. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
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