Filmmaker Masoud Jafari-Jozani and musician Hossein Alizadeh are representing Iranian music and cinema at the 11th Delhi International Art Festival (DIAF) in the Indian capital, November 10-25.
Jozani’s latest feature film ‘Behind the Wall of Silence’ was screened in the Asian category of the movies section at the event, November 13.
The film, which premiered at the 35th Fajr Film Festival in February, centers on the 1980s scandal of France’s HIV-infected blood supplies to Iran.
Some 1,250 hemophiliacs in France are believed to have been infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, before screening began in August 1985. Of these, 400 have died. Others may also have been affected as a result of blood transfusions during operations or after accidents.
An official investigation showed that senior health officials had ordered the continued use of the blood-clotting factor that hemophiliacs need, despite knowing that it had been contaminated.
Even after the supplies were banned, contaminated blood was exported to several countries including Iran, causing the infection of 1,800 people and the death of over 100 in Iran.
Jafari-Jozani, 68, is a film director, screenwriter and film producer. He got a master’s degree in cinema from the San Francisco State University in 1977.
Traditional Performance
Alizadeh, renowned traditional music composer, performed a concert at the DIAF in the ‘Sufi’ music section, November 12.
A tar and setar improviser, Alizadeh was accompanied by the Iranian percussion band ‘Knock the Time’ led by Hamid Qanbari.
Founded in 2007, the Delhi International Arts Festival is India’s longest multi-art and multi-venue cultural festival.
More than 900 artists from countries such as the US, Argentina, Canada, England, Austria, and Norway among others join the annual event to share their experience in different fields of art including painting, cinema, theater, literature and music.
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