Lost in Tehran, Lost in Japan

After arriving at the front lines in Iran-Iraq War, Farshad was so frightened he couldn’t move. A nurse told him there was a certain vaccine that makes fear go away. And it did, but after a while, Farshad realized that the anti-fear vaccine was just morphine, and he had become an addict. Post-war, he moved to Japan, gained fame via a documentary, married, and had children. His secret addiction led to divorce. Back in Iran, he seeks his estranged daughter online, haunted by the war. The film explores his life and enduring desire for reunion.

Jafar Najafi was born in 1986 in Koohrang, studied cinema at Tehran University of Art. He directed the award-winning documentary short Asho in 2019, which won the Best Children's Documentary Award at IDFA and received Honorable Mention at DOK Leipzig. In 2021, his documentary Make-Up Artist won the IDFA FIPRESCI Award and the Award of Excellence at Yamagata. His documentary Alone premiered at the Venice Biennale in 2022 and won Best Documentary at Serbia Doc Russia International Documentary Film Festival in 2024.

Iran

Project Phase: Development

Producer: CinemaTales, Siavash Jamali

Contact: seavash@gmail.com