''No One Knows About Persian Cats'' ( fa, کسی از گربه های ایرانی خبر نداره, Kasi az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh) is a

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

Iranian film directed by

Bahman Ghobadi Bahman Ghobadi ( fa, بهمن قبادی; ; born 1 February 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan province, Iran) is an Iranian Kurdish film director, producer and writer. He belongs to the " new wave" of Iranian cinema. Biography He was born in Baneh, a K ...

produced by Wild Bunch. The film offers the perspective of Iran as it explores its underground rock scene. It won the Special Jury Prize Ex-aequo in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

Plot

The film follows two young musicians (Ashkan and Negar) as they form a band and prepare to leave Iran shortly after being released from prison. The pair befriends a man named Nader (

Hamed Behdad Hamed Behdad ( fa, حامد بهداد; born November 17, 1973) is an Iranian actor and singer. He has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh, a Hafez Award, an Iran Cinema Celebration Award and two Iran's Film Critics and Write ...

), an underground music enthusiast and producer who helps them travel around

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and its surrounding areas in order to meet other underground musicians possibly interested in forming a band and later leaving the country.

Cast

* Ashkan Kooshanejad * Negar Shaghaghi

Bands and musicians

* Take It Easy Hospital * Rana Farhan *

Hichkas Soroush Lashkari ( fa, سروش لشکری; born 9 May 1985), known professionally as Hichkas ( fa, هیچ‌کس), is an Iranian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Credited with popularizing Persian hip hop to the Iranian people and other Persian-sp ...

* Meysam Eddie * The Yellow Dogs * Shervin Najafian * Ash Koosha * Mirza (band) * The Free Keys * Mahdyar Aghajani * Darkoob * Hamed Seyed Javadi * Nik Aein Band

International cinema release dates

* 23 December 2009: France * 3 February 2010: Belgium * 26 March 2010: U.K. Limited release: Curzon Soho and key cities * 16 April 2010: U.S. (New York City only)
* 16 April 2010: Italy * 15 July 2010: Israel

Reception

Awards and nominations

Its first official screening was at the

where it won the Special Jury Prize Ex-aequo in the

section. *

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

: ** Special Jury Prize Ex-aequo in the

section (won)

Accusations

Shortly after the release of the movie, Iranian director Torang Abedian accused Ghobadi of having used many ideas for his movie from her documentary ''Not an Illusion'', made from 2003 to 2008 and released in the same year. According to Abedian, her camera operator got a call from Ghobadi and left her afterwards to make the movie about the same topic with Ghobadi in a few days.http://oe1.orf.at/artikel/245863 - Austrian radio station Ö1

References

External links

Underground Musicians Fight The Man In Tehran

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

movie review by Mark Jenkins, 2010-04-15, accessed 2010-05-07. *
In-depth review of the film and its soundtrack

No One Knows About Persian Cats Soundtrack

This is music from a brave and extraordinary musical movement
BBC review {{François Chalais Prize 2009 drama films 2009 films Films directed by Bahman Ghobadi Iranian drama films 2000s Persian-language films Rock music films