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WHEN GOD SLEEPS

    • WHEN GOD SLEEPS

    USA — GERMANY 61 MIN
    RUSSIAN PREMIERE

    • ABOUT

      This rap-punk-rock doc tells the story of Iranian musician Shahin Najafi who is forced into hiding after hardline clerics issue a fatwa for his death, incensed by a rap song that focuses on the oppression of women and human rights abuses. Shahin’s frantic escape leads to an impossible romance when he falls in love with Leili Bazargan. Shahin and Leili’s backgrounds make their relationship a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. She is the granddaughter of the first Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran – a man who was handpicked for the job by none other than the late Ayatollah Khomeini. As Shahin risks his life every time he steps on a stage he faces a personal dilemma: how does an apostate deemed worthy of execution establish a life with a woman whose family is deeply religious?

    • DIRECTOR

      TILL SCHAUDER

       

      Schauder got his start in Germany where he wrote and directed the award winning feature films STRONG SHIT and CITY BOMBER. His U.S. debut, SANTA SMOKES won several international awards, among them Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Studio Hamburg Newcomer Award. In 2012, Schauder completed his first documentary, the critically acclaimed THE IRAN JOB, which was released theatrically in several countries, shortlisted for a German Oscar, and is now available on Netflix. In 2014 he was awarded the prestigious Gerd-Ruge-Stipendium by Medienstiftung NRW, Germany’s largest federal film fund. Schauder received his MA at the University of Television and Film, Munich. He teaches film classes at NYU and Vermont College of Fine Arts where he is a founding faculty of the Film Masters Program.

    • OTHER FESTIVALS

      • Tribeca Film Festival, USA 2017
      • Munich Film Festival, Germany 2017
      • IDFA. Netherlands 2017
      • Krakow Film Festival, Poland 2017
      • Doclands, USA 2017
      • In-Edit Film Festival, Spain 2017
      • Calgary International Film Festival, Canada 2017
      • Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival, Germany 2017
      • If! Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey 2017
      • Goteborg Film Festival, Sweden 2018

    • SECTION

      DOKer 2018 — Main Competition

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