Boldly inventive and intricately choreographed, this Iranian one-shot wonder weaves an enigmatic time-warp narrative around a group of characters who have congregated at a lakeside camp.
A tour de force… As quietly political as it is brazenly cinematic.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2014
Fish & Cat 2013
Mahi Va Gorbeh
"A bold experiment in perpetual motion with an enigmatic time-warp narrative, Fish & Cat plays out as one continuous shot, with the camera moving among a host of characters at a remote forest and a nearby lake. Gradually subverting a gruesome premise drawn from a real-life case of a backwoods restaurant that served human flesh, the film builds an atmosphere of tension as a menacing pair descend on a campsite where a group of college kids have gathered for a kite-flying festival. But as the camera doubles back and criss-crosses between characters in real time, subtle space-time paradoxes suggest that something bigger is going on. Brilliantly sustained, Fish & Cat is further evidence of a new generation of filmmakers emerging in Iran.” — MOMA, New Directors/New Films.
“Filmed in one long, bravura shot by photographer Mahmud Kalari (A Separation), director/writer Shahram Mokri’s highly original second feature combines formal experimentation with a sly sense of humor and a surprising feeling for American genre conventions." — Alissa Simon, Variety