SYNOPSIS
Exiled Iranian actor Mr Farid teaches theatre to reluctant teenagers inside an Australian Detention Centre. When the fate of the kids is unknown, he attempts to restore their lives but makes an unexpected discovery of his own.
NORA NIASARI - Writer & Director
Born in Iran, Nora is a Writer/Director based in Melbourne. In 2010, she obtained a Bachelor Degree in Architecture from Sydney’s University of Technology where she started making short films. She recently completed a Masters in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). Her graduate film “The Phoenix (Simorgh)” was nominated for Best Direction in a Student Film at the 2015 Australian Director’s Guild Awards.
Filmography
2010 - “Beirut, Under the Bridge” – Documentary Short – 29”
2013 - “The Guard” – Narrative Short – 5”
2014 - “17 Years and a Day” – Narrative Short – 12”
2015 – “The Phoenix (Simorgh)” – Narrative Short – 23”
MANOUCHEHR FARID - Lead Actor
In pre-revolution Iran, Manouchehr Farid was an acclaimed actor who starred in dozens of plays and films by Iranian New Wave Directors including “The Brick and The Mirror (1965)” by Ebrahim Golestan, “Baluch (1972)” by Masud Kimiai, and “The Ballad of Tara (1979)” by Bahram Bayzai which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Manouchehr Farid fled Iran with his family for the USA and subsequently to Australia.
For decades, he worked in a textile factory and did not return to the stage as an actor. In “The Phoenix (Simorgh)” Manouchehr Farid returns to acting for the first time in thirty-five years.
