TEHRAN-The restored version of the film “Downpour”, one of the most famous works of Bahram Beyzai, was screened at the 50th Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, the U.S., on Friday.

The movie was shown in the Special Medallion section of the festival, dedicated to the screening of the works of the Film Foundation, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation and the exhibition of restored and classic cinema, ISNA reported. 

Written and directed by Bahram Beyzai, “Downpour” was produced in 1972 as his first feature film.

It is about a well-educated and humble teacher who arrives in a new city and for a new job. He falls in love with a hardworking underprivileged young woman who nurses her very old mother and raises her young brother in an environment where commitments and social problems often stand in the way between people and their dreams.

Parviz Fannizadeh, Parvaneh Masoumi, Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz and Manuchehr Farid are in the cast among others. 

Already known for his groundbreaking work as a theater director, Beyzai in 1972 helped catalyze a new era of Iranian cinema.

A troubling, occasionally darkly funny and eye-opening work of deep commitment, “Downpour” helped set the stage of a new wave of Iranian cinema, one of the great artistic movements of the past century.

The movie was restored from the only surviving print about 10 years ago by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with the Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Bahram Beyzai.

In addition to “Downpour”, other film restorations by the Film Foundation to screen at the festival include Idrissa Ouédraogo’s Yam Daabo (Burkina Faso, 1986), and two shorts by Agnes Varda: Black Panthers (France-U.S., 1970) and Uncle Yanco (France-U.S., 1968) which will be shown alongside The Gleaners And I (France, 2000) as part of a celebration of the late filmmaker.

The Film Foundation was founded by director Martin Scorsese and several other leading filmmakers in 1990. Since then, the foundation has identified and funded the preservation and restoration of over 1000 films from around the world—features, shorts, documentaries, experimental films and home movies. 

The work of The Film Foundation has created an ever-growing, worldwide ripple effect of awareness of the urgency of film preservation.

Telluride Film Festival’s celebration of artistic excellence brings together cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers, and artists to discover the best in world cinema in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. TFF is screening over eighty feature films, short films, and revival programs representing twenty-nine countries, along with filmmaker Tributes, Conversations, Seminars, Student Programs, and Festivities. 

The 50th edition of the festival started on August 31 and will conclude on September 4.

Caption: A scene from Bahram Beyzai’s “Downpour” with Parviz Fannizadeh (L) and Parvaneh Massoumi

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