Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness

Yalda (Working title)

Feature Film | 2018-2019 | Drama, Thriller | France, Germany, Iran, Luxembourg, Switzerland

Main data

Director	Massoud Bakhshi
Written by	Massoud Bakhshi
Production	JBA Productions [fr], Niko Film, Close Up Films [ch], Tita Productions [fr], Ali Mosaffa Production [ir], Amour Fou Luxembourg [lu], ZDF / Das kleine Fernsehspiel [de]
Distributor	Little Dream Pictures GmbH, Pyramide Films [fr]

Shooting data

Start of shooting	14/09/2018
End of shooting	16/10/2018
Number of shooting days	32
Locations	Teheran, Iran
Filming regions	Iran

Project data

Film financing

Length of movie

89 Min.

Trailers/Videos

Trailer/Video on Vimeo
[de] Trailer

Posters

Brief synopsis

Maryam Sadeghi, 26 years old, is married to her father’s former boss who is 36 years her senior. Pregnant and refusing to get an abortion, Maryam accidentally kills him and is sentenced to capital punishment. She has to confront his daughter, Mona Zia, through a popular reality TV show where the accused asks for pardon in front of millions of viewers.
As the show progresses, Maryam will soon uncover the truth and the terrible compromises made by her own family.

(http://www.nikofilm.de/en/films/in-production/yalda/)

Cast

Actor	Role name	Voice actor / SpeakerVoice actor
Sadaf Asgari	Maryam [L]	Maria Magdalena Wardzinska
Behnaz Jafari	Mona [L]
Babak Karimi	Ayat, the producer [L]
Fereshteh Sadrorafaei	Mother [SR]
Forough Ghajebeglou	Keshavarz [SR]
Arman Darvish	Omid [SR]
Fereshteh Hosseini	Anar [SR]

Crew

Activity	Name	Comment
Vfx producer	Sergej Jurisdizkij
Digital compositor / compositing artist	Martin Hofmann [1]
Director of photography	Julian Atanassov
Costume designer	Leila Naghdi Pari
Director	Massoud Bakhshi
Editor	Jacques Comets
Producer	Jacques Bidou
Producer	Marianne Dumoulin
Producer	Fereshteh Taerpour
Co-producer	Joëlle Bertossa
Co-producer	Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
Co-producer	Nicole Gerhards
Co-producer	Bady Minck
Assistant to producer	Nina Fernandez
Production designer	Massoud Bakhshi
Production manager	Kambiz Safari
Assistant production manager	Julia Franke Postproduktion	Postproduktion
Screenwriter	Massoud Bakhshi
Production sound mixer	Dana Farzenhpour
Adr mixer	Rolf Manzei

Production companies

Company	Comment
JBA Productions [fr]
Niko Film
Close Up Films [ch]
Tita Productions [fr] Tita.B.	Tita.B.
Ali Mosaffa Production [ir]
Amour Fou Luxembourg [lu]
ZDF / Das kleine Fernsehspiel [de]

Distribution / Sales companies

Company	Comment
Little Dream Pictures GmbH Distributor Germany	Distributor Germany
Pyramide Films [fr] Distribution France & World Sales	Distribution France & World Sales

Facilities

Department	Company	Comment
Film Processing/Transfers	BASIS Berlin Postproduktion GmbH
Image (VFX)	Mind and Image GmbH & Co. KG VFX	VFX

Awards

Award winner	Year	Award	Category
Massoud Bakhshi	2020	Sundance Film Festival [us] World Cinema Grand Jury Prize	World Cinema Grand Jury Prize	Winner
Massoud Bakhshi	2020	Berlin International Film Festival [de] Generation Kplus	Generation Kplus	Nominated

Festivals

Year	Country	Festival	Comment
2020	USA	Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Dramatic Competition	World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Cinema releases and premieres

Type	Country	Date	Comment
Theatre release	France	Wednesday, 07/10/2020
Theatre release	Germany	Thursday, 27/08/2020
Premiere		Sunday, 26/01/2020	Sundance Film Festival [us]

Links

Websites
Interview at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival (Video)	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imFFY-vWrLY

Crew United