Higher Than Acidic Clouds

On house arrest in his Tehran apartment after premiering Terrestrial Verses (48th) at Cannes, Ali Asgari transforms repression into artistic resistance. Forced to disconnect with the outside world, he takes wing with his memories and imagination, reflecting on his mother’s native language, his childhood dreams, the decade he spent in Rome, and his regrets for his sisters not being able to see his films in Iranian cinemas. His dreams of flying above the city, loomed over by ominous acidic clouds, transcend boundaries between the real and the surreal, the lightness of poetry and the heaviness of captivity, in an intimate cinematic act of defiance that proves creativity still shines.

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam