Turtles Can Fly

Australian Premiere | 2013

Director's Biography
Director's Biography
Bahman Ghobadi was born on February 1st, 1969 in Baneh, a city near the Iran- Iraq border in the province of Kurdistan, Iran. He was the first son in a family of seven siblings. He lived in Baneh until, at the age of 12, civil disputes caused his entire family to immigrate to Sanandaj, the center of Kurdistan Province in Iran. After graduating from high school in Sanandaj, Ghobadi moved to Tehran in 1992. He started his artistic career in the field of Industrial Photography. Though he attended the Iranian Broadcasting College, he never graduated. Rather than following a formal curriculum, he believed the only way he could learn the craft of cinema was by tirelessly making short films. Using 8mm film, his starting point was to shoot a series of short documentaries.

Synopsis

Near the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of an American invasion, refugee children like 13-year-old Kak gauge and await their fate.

Festivals

  • San Sebastián International Film Festival
  • Chicago International Film Festival
  • São Paulo International Film Festival
  • Isfahan International Festival of Films for Children
  • Berlin International Film Festival
  • Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival
  • Rotterdam International Film Festival
  • Tbilisi International Film Festival
  • Tromsø International Film Festival
  • Festróia – Tróia International Film Festival
  • Sundance Selection

Production Team

Director
Bahman Ghobadi
Country
Iran, Iraq, France
Runtime 
98 min
Language
Persian with English Subtitles
Premiere Status 
Classification 
18+
Year
2004
Screenwriter 
Producer
Bahman Ghobadi & Babak Amini
Cinematographer 
Editor
Cast
Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif & Saddam Hossein Feysal

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