Yesa Sundance audience winner from Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari, closing this year’s Locarno International Film Festival.
Chief portrayed by Cate Blanchett, Yes stars Holy Spirit actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi. Yes on the last night of the Locarno festival on Saturday 12 August in its European premiere. Locarno will also present a second extraordinary title that will touch the history of cinema personally selected by the president of the Locarno festival Marco Solari.
Niasari’s powerful debut, drawn from the director’s own life, tells the inspiring story of an Iranian woman’s journey to freedom as she finds refuge in a women’s shelter after immigrating to Australia.
Blanchett is an executive producer on the film through Dirty Films, the production company she runs with Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. She and Ebrahimi will attend Locarno with Niasari.
On August 12, Blanchett will also oversee a conversation between Niasari and Ebrahimi on the topic of “Iranian women and Iranian cinema” at the GranRex Cinema in Locarno.
The 76th Locarno International Film Festival runs August 2-12, 2023.
