Mast-del مست دل

Synopsis:

Two women lie together in bed. As the wind bashes against the window, one recalls a past date to the cinema. The narrated scene cannot be conveyed through images. Layers of found and original footage are superimposed to fill in some of the cracks, the deletions, the limits of representation. A love song that would never pass through the censors, Mast-del is about forbidden bodies and desires inside and outside post-revolution Iranian cinema.

Maryam Tafakory returns to GSFF with a new addition to her mesmerising collection of archival interventions on the themes of censorship, desire and sexuality in postrevolution Iranian cinema and beyond. Weaving together negative - sometimes double-exposed - images, subtle sound design and written narrative, Mast-del opens a door to a tactile, intimate experience of the protagonists' bodily and mental reality. The sound of a wet storm triggers a memory; the screen overspills with obscured close-up shots of two female bodies yearning for one another. While Tafakory's last film Nazarbazi felt more like a representation of the Aesopian language of (un)expressed attraction, Mast-del takes it a step further - formally embodying the sense of playfulness and craving that are born in the shadow of restrictions. Watching it, I felt like the screen was inviting me to our own play of glances. The film, withholding the clarity of the image, ignited an urge to know, to touch, to see; to fill in the gaps with my imagination. This exploration is not just about sexual desire, it's about the erotic power. Following Audre Lorde's words, it's about a lifeforce -craving to fully feel and share that feeling in all that we are and do. [by Milda Valiulytė]

Screenings:

1. Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Cannes, France [link]
(17 – 26 May, 2023)
Official Selection
2. Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Portugal
(8 - 16 July, 2023)
Experimental Competition
3. Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
(3 – 20 August, 2023)
Short Film Competition Won: Best Experimental Short Film
4. Silhouette Short Film Festival, France
(25 August – 2 September, 2023)
Official Selection
5. Open City Documentary Festival, United Kingdom
(6 - 17 September, 2023)
Official Selection
6. Toronto International Film Festival, Canada [link]
(7 - 17 September, 2023)
Wavelengths
7. Villa Medici Film Festival, Italy
(13 - 17 September, 2023)
Competition
8. Camden International Film Festival, United States
(14 - 17 September, 2023)
Official Shorts Program
9. DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, South Korea
(14 – 21 September, 2023)
Expanded Section
10. Lille International Short Film Festival, France
(21 September - 1 October, 2023)
International Competition
11. Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, Romania
(26 September - 1 October, 2023)
International Short Film Competition
12. 25 FPS Festival, Croatia
(27 - 30 September. 2023)
Competition Won: Grand Prix awarded by Mary Helena Clark & Critics award
13. Encounters Festival, United Kingdom
(27 September – 1 October, 2023)
Competition
14. Reykjavík International Film Festival, Iceland
(28 September - 8 October, 2023)
Short Film Competition
15. Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada
(28 September - 8 October, 2023)
Modes
16. New York Film Festival, United States
(29 September - 15 October, 2023)
Currents
17. Festival Internacional de Cine de Valdivia, Chile
(9 - 15 October, 2023)
New Paths
18. Film Fest Gent, Belgium
(10 – 21 October, 2023)
Short Film Competition
19. Uppsala Short Film Festival, Sweden
(23 - 29 October, 2023)
International Competition
20. Archivio Aperto, Italy
(25 - 29 October, 2023)
Competition Won: Best Short Film
21. Archivio Aperto, Italy
(25 - 29 October, 2023)
Competition Won: Best Short Film
22. Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Argentina
(2 - 12 November, 2023)
Altered States Competition Honorable Mention
23. Media City Film Festival, Canada
(7 - 11 November, 2023)
24. Brussels Pink Screens Film Festival, Belgium
(9 - 18 November, 2023)
Short Film Competition
25. Cork International Film Festival, Ireland
(9 - 26 November, 2023)
Short Film Competition
26. Amiens International Film Festival, France
(10 - 18 November, 2023)
Short Film Competition Won: Grand Prix Court Metrage
27. Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Germany
(14 - 19 November, 2023)
Special Screening
28. Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal, Canada
(16 - 26 November, 2023)
International Short & Mid-length Competition
29. Beirut Shorts - NDU International Film Festival, Lebanon
(21 - 24 November, 2023)
Competition Won: Best Experimental Film
30. Márgenes - Madrid International Film Festival, Spain
(24 November - 3 December, 2023)
International Competition
31. Filma Feminist Film Festival, Ukraine
(27 November - 10 December, 2023)
Official Selection
32. Festival Tous Courts of Aix-en-Provence, France
(28 November - 2 December, 2023)
International Experimental Short Film Competition Won: Grand Prix of the Experimental Competition
33. Bogotá Short Film Festival - BOGOSHORTS, Colombia
(5 - 12 December 2023)
International Experimental Competition
34. IndieCork Film Festival, Ireland
(15 - 22 December, 2023)
International Competition
35. British Shorts Film Festival, Germany
(18 - 24 January, 2024)
36. La Inesperada, Spain
(21 - 25 February, 2024)
37. Kino Pavasaris - Vilnius International Film Festival, Lithuania
(16 - 26 March, 2024)
Short Film Competition
38. Glasgow Short Film Festival. Scotland
(20 – 24 March, 2024)
International Competition
39. Movies that Matter Festival, the Netherlands
Short Film Competition Won: Best Short Film
40. Ann Arbor Film Festival, United States
Competition Won: Susan Dise Best Experimental Film