FILM ABOUT IRAN’S FORBIDDEN UNDERGROUND MUSIC SCENE, WITH AN APPEARANCE BY FEATURED IRANIAN MUSICAL ARTIST

NYS Writers Institute, October 22, 2013
7:00 p.m. Film screening with commentary | Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Uptown Campus [Note early start time]

CALENDAR LISTING:
Rana Farhan, Iranian jazz and blues singer, will answer questions immediately following the screening of a film about Iran’s forbidden underground music scene, No One Knows About Persian Cats (which features a performance by Farhan) on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. [note early start time] in the Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, on the University at Albany uptown campus. The event is free and open to the public, and is part of the “Women of the Middle East Series” cosponsored by UAlbany’s Office of International Education, New York State Writers Institute, International Academic Program, Global Institute for Health and Human Rights, Women’s Studies, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society, and University Auxiliary Services.

PROFILE
As part of the “Women of the Middle East” series, the UAlbany Office of International Education and New York State Writers Institute will present a screening of the quasi-documentary film, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS with commentary by Iranian musical artist Rana Farhan, who is featured in the film.

NOTE:  Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was originally scheduled to speak at this event, will be unable to attend due to professional commitments.

Rana Farhan has earned international acclaim for her fusions of Persian poetry by the medieval Persian poets Rumi, Hafez, and Omar Khayyam with American blues, jazz and soul. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2011, Emily Esfahani Smith called Farhan’s work, “an intoxicating and utterly fresh musical combination,” and said, “While Ms. Farhan has been a renowned musician in Iran for several years now, it was not until 2009 that she grabbed the attention of the international scene with her sultry jazz song ‘Drunk With Love.’” Based on a poem by Rumi that combines erotic imagery with sensual longing, the song is prominently featured in the film, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS.

Bahman Ghobadi, notable Iranian filmmaker and director of PERSIAN CATS, calls Farhan, “an important figure in the Iranian music scene today,” adding that, “Like a needle and thread, Rana stitches East and West together through her music.”

Farhan grew up in Iran and attended Tehran University before relocating to New York City. Her music enjoys wide circulation in Iran through legal and illegal internet downloads. She has also been featured on BBC and Voice of America radio and television. In July 2011 she headlined Toronto’s Tirgan Festival, the world’s largest Iranian cultural festival outside of Iran. Farhan’s albums include Moon and Stone (2011), Your Wish (2009) and I Return (2007).

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.