SUN · 12:00pm
Boulder Jewish Film Festival: We Met at Grossinger’s
Grace Gamm Theatre · $20.70
SUN · 3:00pm
Boulder Jewish Film Festival: Reading Lolita in Tehran
Sunday, November 1 at Grace Gamm Theatre, Boulder
About this event
TICKETS This stirring adaptation of Azar Nafisi’s 2003 memoir, which spent 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, is a testament to resilience, resistance and courage. Acclaimed Israeli director Eran Riklis worked with prominent Iranian actors living in exile to create this exploration of female solidarity in post-Revolutionary Iran. The taut drama chronicles the literature professor’s decision to host a secret book salon in her living room, where her female students read banned Western classics, drawing inspiration from the heroines of Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James and Jane Austen. As the Islamic regime tightens its grip on intellectual freedom, this clandestine encounter with transformative stories stokes the ambitions of women enduring misogyny, censorship and religious extremism. The film takes place over two decades, starting in 1979, but could not be more relevant today. “Reading Lolita in Tehran” co-stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who co-directed and co-starred in last year’s Audience Award winner, “Tatami.” Feature/107 minutes/In Farsi/2025 Directed by Eran Riklis
Who's playing
Eran Riklis directs, working with Iranian actors who live in exile. Golshifteh Farahani plays the literature professor, and Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Mina Kavani are among her students. Ebrahimi also co-directed and co-starred in Tatami, a previous festival Audience Award winner.
What to expect
A taut drama that spans two decades, beginning in 1979. A professor invites female students into her living room to read banned Western classics, including works by Nabokov, Fitzgerald, Henry James and Jane Austen. The festival follows each screening with a discussion led by Kathryn Bernheimer, sometimes with guests such as actors, directors or producers.
Why go
The film is about women finding courage through books, under censorship and religious extremism. The Boulder Jewish Film Festival is in its 14th year, and the post-film conversation is a regular part of it. The Grace Gamm Theatre is a good room for a film that works through its characters' conversations.
Where
Grace Gamm Theatre · Walnut Street · Boulder CODirections
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