EMPTY NETS
Directed by Behrooz Karamizade
Release: 2023
Runtime: 101 min
Country: Germany, Iran
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: Farsi w/English subtitles
Cast: Hamid Reza Abbasi, Sadaf Asgari, Keyvan Mohamadi
Crew:
Screenwriter: Behrooz Karamizade
Cinematagrapher: Ashkan Ashkani
Editor: Anne Jünemann (BFS)
Music: John Gürtler & Jan Miserre, featuring Sabah Alizadeh
Producer: Eva Kemme, Ansgar Frerich, Uschi Feldges
SYNOPSIS
Amir and Narges have found what feels like true love in their hometown by the coast of the Caspian Sea. But in today’s Iran, that’s far from enough to build a life together, and they are forced to keep the relationship a secret. To win over Narges’ upper-class family and pay an appropriate dowry, Amir needs money, and he needs it fast. With his back against the wall, Amir finds work at a local fishery, where he is drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of black-market caviar smuggling. As Amir’s values are compromised by the illegal underworld, Narges stalls for time and tries to delay the arranged marriage her parents are planning for her. Can their love, hopes, and dreams survive the tightly-knit web of tradition, corruption, and social hierarchy that continues to rule over the lives of a new generation in Iran?
TRAILER
PHOTOS
REVIEWS
Screen International
By Wendy Ide
“A piercing, powerful debut from Behrooz Karamizade, Empty Nets shines a light on the economic realities of Iran for young people who can barely afford to dream, let alone live.”
Hollywood Reporter
By Frank Scheck
“Socially conscious neorealism at its best.”
Variety
By Guy Lodge
“This is a confidently quiet, elegiac first feature from Iranian-German writer-director Karamizade — who brings a certain European arthouse sheen to a story otherwise steeped in the stark modern tradition of Iranian social realism.”
Deadline Hollywood Daily
By Damon Wise
“It’s hard-hitting stuff, but Karamizade has a light touch, and his DoP, Ashkan Ashkani, gives the film a suitably seductive aquatic-blue palette that reflects its all-consuming vision of a man who’s, metaphorically, lost at sea.”
FESTIVALS / AWARDS
- International Premiere: Karlovy Vary IFF – Crystal Globe Competition – Special Jury Prize
- San Francisco International Film Festival
- Celebration of Iranian Cinema at UCLA Pacific Film Archive
- Filmfest Münich, Germany – Best Production Award
- Adelaide Film Festival, Australia – Feature Fiction Award
- Ahrenshooper Filmnächte, Germany – Best Film, Audience Award