The distance between Berlin and Isfahan is nearly 4,000 kilometers. A webcam bridges that divide, allowing moments of intimacy – yet also exposing the gap. For over a decade, Faraz Fesharaki has been documenting his encounters with his family – a digital dialogue between himself, now based in Germany studying film directing and cinematography, and his relatives who remain in the bustling Iranian city. His father Hassan and mother Mitra reflect on the traditional role of women and proudly show off persimmons from their garden. With a pair of sunglasses, Hassan momentarily transforms into Abbas Kiarostami, while Mitra recalls her time spent in prison. Their cousin Rahi, chiming in from Austria, adds to this intergenerational, diasporic exchange with his favorite recipe: toast, mozzarella, and egg. The images and the wallpaper in the background are pixelated, the sound is often out of sync. Much remains unsaid, yet palpable. The storytelling in What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? is subtle, slipping between lines and allusions. Between recorded video calls, Fesharaki inserts text over red backgrounds which serve as notes and messages, as well as memories captured on old VHS tapes. This debut “desktop film” gently unpacks a core human dilemma: the desire to be understood, even when we don’t fully understand ourselves, and the difficulty of expressing emotion to those who know us best. That’s where dreams and cinema come in – to give space to the unspeakable and the inexpressible. (Dina Pokrajac)
Awards and Festivals:
Berlinale Forum (2024) – World Premiere; Dokufest (2024) – Special Mention
Faraz Fesharaki was born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1986 and currently lives in Berlin. While studying dramatic literature and film at the University of the Arts in Tehran, he began making his own short films and attended workshops led by Abbas Kiarostami. In 2012, he began studying cinematography at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). He worked as director of photography on What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? by Alexandre Koberidze, which was his graduation project. What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? is his feature-length directorial debut.
