In this episode, we feature a conversation with Director / Producer Afsaneh Salari from Iran about her feature film, The Silhouettes, which is having its World Premiere at Vision du Reel and available to watch until 2 May on the festival's website.    

The Silhouettes tells the intimate story of an Afghan refugee family living in Iran for over 35 years as their youngest son takes the difficult to return to Afghanistan because of the limited opportunities that exist for immigrants in Iran.  

Afsaneh has an impressive eye that is immediately visible in her framing from the first shot of the film and carries through until the last frame. However, her talents as a filmmaker go beyond composition. She also has strong intuition as a filmmaker and manages to artfully capture the tension in quiet, everyday moments. As a result, we feel the burden and limitations placed on this family of immigrants in Iran as if it were in our own country.    

In the conversation, Anna Savchenko, a former classmate of Afsaneh’s speaks with her on the eve of her premiere to discuss the inspiration for the film and how she managed multiple roles as Producer, director, and cinematographer. Afsaneh also talks about her decision to premiere the film online during these times of COVID.