Dog Sweat

Regent Square Theater: May 7 @ 3:00 PM & May 13 9:30PM

Passes not accepted on Opening/Closing Night. Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of start time to ensure availability of seating. Film schedule and Q & A's are subject to change.

2010/Iran/Director: Hossein Keshavarz/90 min.
Cast: Ahmad Akbarzadeh, Tahereh Esfahani, Bagher Forohar, Shahrokh Taslimi
Language: Persian, English Subtitles
Nominated for Independent Spirit Award (Somone to Watch Award)
In a nation where its President once declared, “Gays don’t exist in Iran,” female vocalists are banned and adulterous affairs are met with dire consequences, Dog Sweat showcases the young and the many whose hunt for parties alcohol and sex is always plagued by the constant threat of persecution.
Using the subversive urgency of cinéma vérité and filmed secretly all over Tehran, Dog Sweat follows the lives of six young people dealing with oppressive Islamic culture. Daily they face the dichotomy created by a progressive youth majority ruled by an aging tradition of religious authority.
Shot underground before the elections of 2009, the provocative film provides Western eyes with a view of Iran never seen before; a world conveniently hidden from view.
A feminist in a world of men, a woman finds herself in an affair with a married man while another woman wants to record pop songs but at the risk of exposure. A boy and his girlfriend, young and in love, want to explore a physically intimate and sexual relationship, but must search for somewhere to be alone. A gay man, whose sexuality is denounced by the government and religious institutions, faces an arranged marriage and its outcomes while a grief-stricken son lashes out at fundamentalists. Their lives don’t always intersect, but each thread is woven in just a way that the tapestry is patterned with an array of deeply unique and diverse voices and experiences.
With well-known Iranian filmmakers being jailed, the courage shown by the cast and crew of Dog Sweat is a hidden presence in this film that challenges the status quo by providing the new generation of Iranians a fervent voice of rebellion.