TEHRAN -- World-renowned Iranian director Majid Majidi’s “The Song of Sparrows” has recently premiered in several cities in the United States.
Regent Releasing, a leading L.A.-based entertainment company, has acquired the rights to distribute the film in the U.S. and Dutch international film sales organization Fortissimo Films is distributing the film across the globe. The film is about Karim who works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. He leads a simple and contented life with his family in a small house, until one day when one of the ostriches runs away. Karim is blamed for the loss and is fired from the farm. Soon afterward, he travels to the city in order to repair his elder daughter’s hearing aid but finds himself mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver. Thus begins his new profession: ferrying people and goods through heavy traffic. But the people and material goods that he deals with on a daily basis starts to transform Karim’s generous and honest nature, much to the distress of his wife and daughters. It is up to those closest to him to restore the values that he had once cherished. “The Song of Sparrows” was nominated for a Golden Bear award for best film at the Berlin film festival in 2008, however Reza Naji won the festival’s Silver Bear for the best actor for his role in the film. The film also brought another prize for Naji at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in November 2008. “The Song of Sparrows” represented Iran at the 81st Annual Academy Awards in 2008.
