TEHRAN – The 40th Cinema Ritrovato (Rediscovered) Festival in Bologna, Italy, which is dedicated to screening restored, rediscovered, and lesser‑seen films from cinema history, is hosting films by late Iranian filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami, Dariush Mehrjui, and Ebrahim Golestan.

Having launched on June 20, this year’s festival held a tribute to Kiarostami, screening four of his short films, including “Bread and Alley” (1970), “Breaktime” (1972), “Two Solutions for One Problem” (1975), and “The Chorus” (1982), Honaronline reported.

“The Cycle” (1975), directed by Dariush Mehrjui, and “The Secrets of the Treasure of the Jinn Valley” by Ebrahim Golestan are other Iranian films screened at the festival.

Mehrjui was a central figure of the Iranian New Wave. In “The Cycle,” he confronted the underground blood trade with stark realism, transforming the body into a site of social conflict.

The film was restored in 4K in 2025 by La Cinémathèque française, from a 35mm positive print, in collaboration with the family of Mehrjui.

In the late director’s harrowing tale of moral and social destitution, a young man named Ali brings his elderly and ailing father to the city for treatment. Unable to secure admission to a hospital, they are forced into life on the streets, where Ali encounters a rogue hospital driver, a nurse, and the head of a blood-dealing operation. He eventually ends up working for the latter, buying blood from junkies and the poor.

Based on Gholam-Hossein Sa’edi’s “Garbage Dump,” “The Cycle” marks Mehrjui’s second collaboration with the renowned writer, following the pivotal “The Cow”.

As in “The Cow” and “The Postman,” in which ordinary men turn into animals, there is another metamorphosis embedded in “The Cycle,” though a far subtler one: the perfectly angelic Ali is compelled by his surroundings to become a monster. It does not, however, fundamentally change his outlook or behavior. Rather, what makes “The Cycle” the most unsettling of Mehrjui’s films is that the unleashing of a beastly nature makes Ali slick and calculating. 

With his final film, “Secrets of the Jinn Valley Treasure,” Golestan turned to satire and allegory to stage the distortions produced by modernization and power.

The film was restored in 4K in 2026 by Cineteca di Bologna and the Iran Heritage Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, from the original camera and sound negatives deposited at Cineteca di Bologna.

Writer, director, and producer Ebrahim Golestan’s final cinematic work, which he also shot and edited, is a political satire about a farmer who discovers a treasure trove in a cave beneath his barren land. The wealth turns him into a mini-tyrant, corrupts the villagers, and attracts parasites from the city. 

Conceived as a political allegory warning against a rising nouveau riche culture that discarded century-old ways of life in favor of hastily adopted, inharmonious values, the film also pokes fun at intellectuals who turn a blind eye and even assist in the process for their own self-advancement. 

Unlike his previous films, Golestan wanted this one to be accessible to the masses. Golestan felt compelled to conceal the story during production (1971–72), as most of the characters were drawn from the leading political figures of the country. Expecting to see his film banned, Golestan even published it as a story in book form before releasing the film. When the film reached the screens, its political message was immediately understood by audiences, who were reported to have applauded during some of the scenes. This made the censors alert to both the film and the book, and they were eventually banned.

The Cinema Ritrovato is an annual film festival organized every summer by Cineteca di Bologna in Italy and dedicated to the history of cinema, screening film classics and retrospectives, and showcasing the latest restored works from cinematographic archives and film laboratories around the world.

Established in 1986, the festival has evolved from its niche origins into an influential international gathering, captivating a new generation of cinephiles.

In addition to presenting 500 films across various sections, this year’s edition of the festival includes numerous exhibitions dedicated to the history of cinema as well as a book fair, selling books, DVDs, posters, and other treasures. The festival will wrap up on June 28.

SS/SAB