AND, TOWARDS HAPPY ALLEYS

A film by Sreemoyee Singh

World Premiere, Berlinale, February 2023

Fascinated by Iran’s film culture and the poetic works of the feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad, Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh sets out in search of the protagonists of Iranian cinema. The numerous interviews she conducts over a period of six years with filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Shirvani and human rights activist Nasrin Sotudeh, among others, show the precarious situation in which critics of the regime find themselves, including the constant threat of imprisonment and being banned from practising their profession. With a keen eye for unusual situations, she documents the effect of the Islamic Republic’s strict and omnipresent censorship on the daily lives of Iranian women whose uncompromising struggle has put them at the forefront of the protests that are currently rocking the country.
And, Towards Happy Alleys is a passionate declaration of love for the cinema and poetry of Iran which also provides a frank view of daily life, and bears witness to a fearless generation raising its voice and implacably demanding its civil liberties.

Reviews

Podcast

PODCAST with THOM POWERS and PURE NON FICTION

English

FIPRESCI- India’s List of TOP 10 Indian Films of 2023

Variety: Sreemoyee Singh’s Seven Year Journey to Making Berlinale Documentary ‘And, Towards Happy Alleys’ With Iran’s Jafar Panahi

Telegraph India: For documentary filmmaking, the only way to go is by your instincts: Sreemoyee Singh

CinemaExpress: Berlinale 2023: And, Towards Happy Alleys - Melodies and movies of resistance

Screen Daily: India’s Sreemoyee Singh on why Jafar Panahi asked her to sing in ‘And, Towards Happy Alleys’

Tribune: Sreemoyee Singh’s ‘And, Towards Happy Alleys’: Seven years in Iran

ASAP ART: A Love Letter in Camera

Fipresci-India: Critique by Subha Das Mollick- A movie and a Song

NDTV: MAMI 2023: Top Ten Discoveries At The Festival

Hindustan Times: And, Towards Happy Alleys review: A tender, moving snapshot of Iranian cinema and censorship

Times of India: Kolkata girl’s documentary on Iran, made with jailed Panahi, goes to Berlinale

Times of India: After Jafar Panahi's release, Kolkata director recalls tryst with Iranian legend

Journey into Cinema: Further Adventures in the Panorama Section: Women Strike Back

rediff.com: When a country erases its filmmakers

Goethe Institute: Longing melodies from a torn country

Modern Times Review: The voice of freedom

German

Tagesspiegel: Regisseurin Sreemoyee Singh: Verliebt in das iranische Kino

Neues Deutschland: Iran: »In der Poesie steckt Widerstand«

Perlentaucher: Sonne durch grüne Blätter: "And, Towards Happy Alleys" von Sreemoyee Singh (Panorama Dokumente)

Spanish

Página12: Un regalo para el espectador cinéfilo

Portuguese

Meio Amargo:A poesia dos oprimidos

Insider: Sreemoyee Singh no MDOC: “Considero-me uma realizadora acidental”

Insider: MDOC testemunhou os ventos de mudança da sociedade iraniana

Italian

Close Up: And, Towards Happy Alleys di Sreemoyee Singh (Festival di Berlino – Panorama Dokumente)

Bengali

Ananda Bazar Patrika: তীব্র জেদে ঠাসা হাসি (page 4)

Hindi

प्रभात किरण: प्यार की कोई वजह नहीं होती

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