TIFF Chess of the Wind Shatranj-e baad

Chess of the Wind
Shatranj-e baad

Mohammad Reza Aslani

Restored 4K Digital Presentation!

Now considered a landmark of Iranian cinema, Mohammad Reza Aslani’s narrative feature-film debut was considered lost after the 1979 revolution until recently, when Aslani’s son discovered a negative of the film languishing in a Tehran antique shop. Equally radical as the film’s provenance is its subject — Aslani sets his chilling tale of dynastic betrayal within a crumbling family compound amongst warring heirs each plotting to claim their deceased matriarch’s inheritance, culminating in a shocking subversion of tradition in which class and gender conventions are deftly activated. Screened publicly only once and promptly banned under censorship laws, Aslani’s Chess of the Wind returns to theatres decades after its initial premiere in a stunning 4K restoration that can only be described as one of the most singular cinematic resurrections to date. “​​Measured against the Iranian and international cinematic treasures of the ’70s, Aslani’s vision is still breathtakingly distinctive, an incisively devastating social critique embedded in a complex tale of intrigue, greed, oppression, and murder” (Godfrey Cheshire, Roger Ebert).

AMANDA BRASON