world premiere at 2017 tribeca film festival when god …€¦ · world premiere at 2017 tribeca...

World Premiere at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival

WHEN GOD SLEEPS A LOVE STORY IN THE AGE OF TERROR

A DOCUMENTARY

Featuring Shahin Najafi

Written and Directed by

Till Schauder

Producers Sara Nodjoumi & Till Schauder

Executive Producers

Lisa Kleiner Chanoff & Bonni Cohen, Julie Goldman & Chris Clements, Abigail Disney & Gini Reticker, Sally Jo Fifer

Presented by

Partner Pictures In association with Catapult Film Fund, Fork Films, Motto Pictures

In co-production with ITVS and WDR

Website: whengodsleepsfilm.com | Facebook: facebook.com/WhenGodSleeps | Twitter: @PartnerPictures

Publicity Contact: Michelle DiMartino | [email protected]

whengodsleepsfilm.com

facebook.com/WhenGodSleeps

twitter.com/PartnerPictures

mailto:[email protected]

SHORT SYNOPSIS

"My songs didn't make me famous. The fatwa did." And so we embark on the journey of rapper Shahin Najafi, whose bold style and transgressive lyrics put him in the crosshairs of religious clerics in his native Iran. When God Sleeps tells the story of this tireless artist-activist against the backdrop of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks and the global right-wing backlash against Middle Eastern refugees. Shahin’s escape leads to an impossible romance when he falls in love with the granddaughter of the first Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. With such family backgrounds, Shahin and Leili become a modern day Romeo & Juliet, caught in the storm of Europe’s refugee crisis, rising Trumpism and global anxiety about the increasingly violent clash between art and religion. (Tribeca Film Festival) LONG SYNOPSIS In 2012 Iranian singer Shahin Najafi, 37, released a satirical rap song that triggered thousands to rally in a campaign for his assassination. Hardline clerics issued a death fatwa against him and placed a $100,000 bounty on his head. The song makes irreverent remarks about Ali al-Naghi, one of twelve imams revered by Shia Muslims. From the New York Times, to the Guardian to SPIEGEL, Shahin’s case drew international attention. German journalist Günter Wallraff, who gave refuge to Salman Rushdie after his death fatwa, now offers shelter to Shahin too. But refusing to go the way of Rushdie who spent a decade in hiding, Shahin says, “Rushdie could sit at home and write. I’m a musician. I have to perform.” What follows is a frantic escape across sharp religious lines. Shahin’s getaway leads to an impossible romance when he falls in love with Leili Bazargan. She is the granddaughter of Mehdi Bazargan, the first Prime Minister of post-revolutionary Iran – a man who was handpicked for the job by none other than Ayatollah Khomeini. Shahin now faces a personal dilemma: how does an apostate deemed worthy of execution establish a life with a woman whose family is deeply religious? The film follows the twists and turns of this dramatic situation, which coincides with Europe’s growing refugee crisis. Though Shahin no longer shares the refugees’ faith, he feels connected to them culturally and has renewed energy to be a voice for the countless victims of war flooding into Germany. Frustrated with the increasingly xenophobic and anti-Muslim sentiment throughout Europe and with the rise of Trumpism, Shahin is determined to push back. As Shahin puts his life on the line each time he steps on a stage, the anxiety surrounding his death fatwa never stops. “Fear is a part of me.” Shahin could live to be a father, like his friend Majid, or pay for his convictions with his life any day.

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Shahin Najafi contributed two rap songs to the soundtrack of my previous film, The Iran Job. When that film opened I wanted to invite Shahin to the premiere party. But I couldn’t reach him. Not by phone, not by E-mail or social media, not even through mutual acquaintances. He had disappeared. Finally my wife Sara, who is also the producer of the film, told me to check the news. That’s when I learned that Shahin was hiding. The Times labeled him “Rushdie of Rap” after hardline clerics had issued a death fatwa against him for publishing a rap song deemed blasphemous. When I finally reached Shahin he was exhausted: “I fear for my life.” My father-in-law, Nicky Nodjoumi, is a painter known for his political and often satirical work. He had to abruptly escape from his home country, Iran, in 1980 – the year Shahin was born. In the days before Nicky’s escape religious extremists burned down a retrospective of his satirical paintings at Tehran’s Museum of Modern Art. Since then Nicky has lived in exile. He had to endure the death of his mother from afar – a fate that Shahin shares with him. They have other similarities. Both are refugee artists who had to adopt to their respective host countries while struggling to maintain a sense of identity. And like my father-in-law, who was once the hope of his local clergy but became an artist unflinchingly critical of Iran’s religious regime, Shahin once considered pursuing the path of a devout cleric before choosing art over religion. Such biographies fascinate me. They require courage and conviction while shedding light on the religious, cultural and political fissures between the West and the Muslim world. When God Sleeps aims to understand a controversial artist and his journey from paralyzing fear to a remanence of freedom. In doing so it hopes to raise questions about free speech, religious and political extremism and artistic integrity. Beneath these global issues lies a very personal story of religious exploration. Asked if God exists Shahin says: ”If he exists he’s sleeping.” In light of the worldwide conflicts over religion, political oppression, refugees and integration this seems to be the right time to tell Shahin’s story. I feel honored that Shahin gave me the exclusive right and access to tell his extraordinary story - a prerequisite for trying to represent all facets of his personality, which can be provocative, courageous, restless, maddening, contradictory and endearing. Till Schauder

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

TILL SCHAUDER (Writer and Director) Schauder got his start in Germany where he received his MA at the Munich University of Television and Film. 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 and shortlisted for a German Academy Award. In 2014 he was awarded the prestigious Gerd-Ruge-Stipendium by Medienstiftung NRW, Germany’s largest federal film fund, to develop WHEN GOD SLEEPS. In 2016 he won the “ARD Top of the Docs” Award to shoot HASSAN AGAINST THE WORLD, a feature documentary about Iraqi refuges in Germany combating ISIS through performance arts. Schauder teaches film classes at NYU and Vermont College of Fine Arts where he is a founding faculty of the Film Masters Program. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and producing partner, Sara Nodjoumi, and their two kids. SARA NODJOUMI (Producer) Nodjoumi is a film producer and film festival programmer. She produced the feature documentary THE IRAN JOB, which was released theatrically and on Netflix worldwide. In Germany, the film was shortlisted for a German Academy Award. For THE IRAN JOB Nodjoumi managed two of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of all time. She co-produced and co-directed I CALL MYSELF PERSIAN: IRANIANS IN AMERICA, which aired on PBS and premiered at the MoMA Documentary Fortnight. Nodjoumi joined director Till Schauder, as an Associate Producer on his feature films SANTA SMOKES and DUKE’S HOUSE. Their collaboration continues with the feature documentary THE REGGAE BOYZ, which is currently in post-production, and WHEN GOD SLEEPS, co-produced by ITVS and supported by numerous foundations including the Sundance Institute, Catapult Film Fund, Fork Film, the Jerome Foundation, and NYSCA. From 2004-2009, Nodjoumi worked at the Tribeca Film Festival as an Associate Programmer and is currently the Artistic Director of the New York Sephardic Film Festival. In 2016, she was invited to attend the Sundance Creative Producer’s Summit.

ABOUT THE CAST SHAHIN NAJAFI Shahin Najafi is a musician, poet, singer, and social activist. He was born in 1980 to a middle-class family in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran, the youngest of eight children. He started writing poetry and learning to play classical and flamenco guitar in his teens. He turned to rock music, often performing as an underground musician. As a young activist, Shahin's lyrics often conveyed strong and controversial messages about Iranian society. This attracted the disapproval of Iranian authorities and in 2004, the threat of persecution forced him to leave Iran. In 2005, Shahin moved to Germany. Dubbed the "angry bard", he continued to write and perform music that was critical of conditions in Iran: poverty, oppression of women, homophobia, censorship, ideological dogmas, violence and cultural taboos. For a time, his career veered into rap and hip hop, bringing him fame among young fans back in Iran. These days, Shahin's music fuses rock, jazz, and blues with lyrics that demand change. (From Shahin Najafi’s official website: shahinnajafimusic.com) LEILI BAZARGAN Leili Bazargan is the granddaughter of Mehdi Bazargan, the first Prime Minister of post-revolutionary Iran, who was handpicked for the job by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. After her grandfather, a devout Muslim, had a falling out with Khomeini over the Iran hostage crisis the family emigrated to Southern California, where Ms. Bazargan grew up in a conservative Muslim community and started a career in journalism and political activism. GÜNTER WALLRAFF Günter Wallraff is a German writer and undercover journalist. Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions. This style of research is based on what the reporter experiences personally after covertly becoming part of the subgroup under investigation. In the 1990s Wallraff temporarily gave shelter to British novelist Salman Rushdie after Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against Rushdie for his novel “The Satanic Verses.” More than a decade later Wallraff would provide shelter to another persecuted artist: singer songwriter Shahin Najafi who landed in the crosshairs of radical clerics for his controversial lyrics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undercover_journalism

CREDITS

WRITTEN and DIRECTED BY Till Schauder

PRODUCED BY

Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Lisa Kleiner Chanoff and Bonni Cohen

Julie Goldman and Chris Clements

Abigail Disney and Gini Reticker

Sally Jo Fifer

PHOTOGRAPHED BY

Till Schauder and Gerardo Milsztein

EDITOR

Tina Grapenthin

CONSULTING EDITOR

Mark Becker

COMMISSIONING EDITOR ITVS

Noland Walker

SUPERVISING PRODUCER FOR ITVS

Michael Ehrenzweig

COMMISSIONING EDITOR WDR

Jutta Krug

ORIGINAL SCORE BY

Max Avery Lichtenstein

SONGS BY

Shahin Najafi and Majid Kazemi

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Henning Brümmer

Till Vielrose

Hajo Schomerus

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Aron Koszeg

CO-PRODUCER GERMANY

Till Schauder Filmproduktion

CONSULTING PRODUCER GERMANY

Corso Film

Erik Winker

Martin Roelly

Florian Fimpel

ASSISTANT TO THE PRODUCERS

Victoria Hazebrouck

Saoli Nguyen

Josh Powell

PRODUCTION SOUND

Michael Geck

Rene Niklas

Mattis Hanspach

Alexander Yaker

Jule Buerjes

Frank Bubenzer

RESEARCHERS

Melissa Imasuen

Victoria Hazebrouck

POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Mark Steele

DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE

Final Frame

DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE COLORIST

Will Cox

DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE ONLINE EDITOR

Kevin Caby

DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE PRODUCER

Caitlin Tartaro

RE-RECORDING MIXER

Mike Frank

SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR

Mike Frank

DIALOGUE & SOUND EDITOR

Arjun Sheth

ASSISTANT SOUND EDITORS

Matt Orlando

David V. Britton

Alex Barnhart

VFX ARTIST

Casey Friedman

TITLES & GRAPHICS

Erik Buckingham / Palaceworks

TRANSLATORS / TRANSCRIPTION

Marie Nehles

Shekhar Gahlot

Kenneth Crab

John Howard

Oldouz Deghan

One Language Communications

Braudry Translation Services

Adina Schöpp Victoria Hazebrouck

Melissa Imasuen

Saskia Jell

Elaheh Tagvaei

Matthias Kreuter

Melissa Oskouie

Ilias Stanois

Petra Zahnhausen

PRODUCTION COUNSEL

Gray Krauss Stratford Sandler Des Rochers LLP

Jonathan Gray, Esq.

FAIR USE OPINION Donaldson & Calif / Chris Perez

BOOKKEEPER

Ameena Din / Big Picture Finance & Accounting

SPECIAL THANKS Shahin Najafi

Leili Bazargan

Shahriyar and Zary Ahadi

Majid Kazemi

Michael Krol

Ben Trawinsky

Niko Stallmann

Simon Shieble

Augusto Stahlke

Günter Wallraff

THANKS Nahid Hagigat

Nicky Nodjoumi

Kat Vecchio

Juli Kobayashi

Caroline Hepburn

Kristin Feeley

Rahdi Taylor

Tabitha Jackson

Enrique Radraza

Caroline Libresco

David Teague

Geoff Richman

Cara Cusumano

Loren Hammonds

Alexandra Cantin

Jannette Bovino

Oliver Schmid

Jose Rodriguez

Andrew Catauro

Leah Giblin

Jenny Raskin & Kelsey Koenig

Winnie Wong

Jim Browne

Hava Pasha & Paul Noordam

Myra Cohen Karen Dillon

Marshall & Elizabeth Curry Silvia Schauder

Wiebke Helmchen

Götz Schauder

Jennifer Battat

Robert Byrd

Alessandro d’Ansembourg

Amir Farman-Farmaian

Sarah Masters

Laura Healy

Megan Gelstein

Richard Massey

Dan Schrecker

Richard O'Conner

Pooya Abbasian

Marjan Farsad

Setare Arashloo

Tina Grapenthin’s family

Lucy Hamachek

Elke, Peter and Hella Grapenthin

Laura van Schendel

Laura Colella

Stephen Pite

Michael Negroponte

Malik Vitthal Amanda Brokaw

Amy Colavita

Milton Tabbot

Paola Mattura

Bebe Negar Nodjomi

Dorota Lecht

Brigid O’Shea

Ineke Hagedorn

Christoph Menardi

Omid Memarian

Hadi Ghaemi

Mamad Menbari

Lori Cheatle

Jessica Vaiana

Nazy Kaviani

Jasmin Tabatabei

Susanne Heinz

Paul Sturtz

David Wilson

Catapult - True/False Rough Cut Retreat &

The Calistoga "Hot Tub" Gang

Donna Kozloskie

Pedro Kos

Sigrid Wolfram

Claudia Haj Ali

Lili Török

Julide Tanriverdi

Kiara Walker

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL BY

Shahin Najafi

Amin Khelghat

Yunus Balcik

Zary Ahadi

Shahriyar Ahadi

BBC / BBC News

Shia TV

Deutsche Welle English

Lenziran

NDR / Das!

Ina.fr

Taraneh Enterprise

VOA Persian Ofogh nasrtv.com

Jan van Bekkum

Associated Press

New York Times

Tagesschau

CNN

ARD

Compact TV

Pyramide Media

Adventurism

Imran’s Photography / Shutterstock

tmbstudio / Shutterstock

Bendaly Family

SONGS

“A Ranandegi Dar Masti ”

Written and performed by: Shahin Najafi

Music arrangements and production by: Majid Kazemi

Published by: Shahin Najafi

Courtesy of Shahin Najafi

“Too Halgham”

Written by: Shahin Najafi

Performed by Shahin Najafi and Majid Kazemi


Published By: Shahin Najafi


“Naghi ”


Performed by Shahin Najafi and Majid Kazemi; Shahin Najafi

and band




“Salam”


Performed by Shahin Najafi and band




“Mammad Nobari”






“BBBBC”

Written and performed by: Shahin Najafi




“Ghazi”






“Sade ”





“Aureliano”


Performed by Shahin Najafi and Majid Kazemi


Published By: Shahin Najafi


GRADITUDE The producers extend their gratitude to Kiepenheuer &

Witsch Verlag for allowing us to use the title of Shahin

Najafi’s book “Wenn Gott Schläft“

FUNDED IN PART BY

ITVS

Catapult Film Fund

Fork Films

FFA - German Federal Film Board

Medienstiftung NRW - Gerd Ruge Stipendium

Jenerosity Foundation

Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program with support

from Open Society Foundations

Jerome Foundation

Hartley Film Foundation

Flora Family Foundation

With the support of The Independent Film Project,

Dok Leipzig and HotDocs Forum

PRODUCTION When God Sleeps is a co-production of Partner Pictures and

the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Westdeutscher

Rundfunk (WDR),

with funding provided by the Corporation for Public

Broadcasting

This program was produced by Partner Pictures who is solely

responsible for its content

world premiere at 2017 tribeca film festival when god …€¦ · world premiere at 2017 tribeca...

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