The Dream of Shahrazad

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Q&A with filmmaker! New York premiere

Filmmaker Francois Verster explores how music and storytelling can serve as an outlet for citizens to process political upheaval. Using the metaphor of Shahrazad–the princess in the classic tale of The 1001 (Arabian) Nights who saves lives by telling stories to the murderous Sultan Shahriyar–and filmed before, during, and after the so-called Arab Spring, the film weaves together a web of music, politics, and storytelling to explore the ways in which creativity and politics coincide in response to oppression. A series of unforgettable characters all draw their inspiration from The 1001 (Arabian) Nights, including a conductor who uses Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade suite as a tool for Istanbul political education, a young female Lebanese internet activist, a visual artist who finds his own “dream of Shahrazad”, and a Cairo theater troupe who turn the testimonies of mothers of the Egyptian revolution martyrs into storytelling performances. This richly kaleidoscopic film is at once observational documentary, concert film, political meditation, and visual translation of an ever-popular symphonic and literary classic.

Like THE DREAM OF SHAHRAZAD, Human Rights Watch has followed events in the Middle East and Turkey before, during, and since the Arab uprisings. Human Rights Watch has documented human rights abuses related to government reactions to mass protests in a number of countries, including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, as well as abuses related to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.

hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa

  • Country South Africa/Egypt/Jordan/France/The Netherland
  • Rating NR
  • Running Time 107 minutes
  • Director Francois Verster

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.