A Moon for my Father

Synopsis

Mania Akbari collaborates with British sculptor Douglas White to coin a tender fusion of langauge, where a meeting of cinema and sculpture investigates the processes of physical and psychological destruction and renewal. Begun a matter of weeks after first meeting, the film charts a deepening artistic and personal relationship exploring the nature of skin, family, death, water, desire and, throughout, a powerful will to form. Akbari looks into the connection between her body and the political history of Iran, investigating the relationship between her own physical traumas and the collective political memory of her birthplace. As she undergoes surgeries on a body decimated by cancer, remembrance and reconstruction provide a framework for investigating how bodies are traumatised, censored and politicized, and yet ultimately remain a site of possibility.

Director Biography

Mania Akbari is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and artist. Her provocative, revolutionary and radical films were recently the subject of retrospectives at the BFI, London (2013), the DFI, Denmark (2014), Oldenburg International Film Festival, Germany (2014), Cyprus Film Festival (2014) and Nottingham Contemporary (2017). Douglas White is a sculptor, known for his use of found objects and materials. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2005 he has worked and exhibited around the world. Recent exhibitions include Splendor Solis, Eden Rock Gallery, St Barth (2014), Song of the Roustabouts, Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam (2013), New Skin for an Old Ceremony, Paradise Row, London (2011).