by InTrieste
The Cinema Ariston is hosting a selection of films from the Venice International Film Festival, thanks to an initiative that brings recent festival highlights to regional theaters. The program, supported by AGIS, ANEC, and FICE delle Tre Venezie with backing from the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, features works from the independent Giornate degli Autori section, founded in 2004 to showcase innovative and auteur-driven cinema.
On Tuesday, November 11, at 9 p.m., the Ariston will screen Past Future Continuous – Gli uccelli del Monte Qaf(Iran/Norway/Italy, 2025, 80 minutes), directed by Morteza Ahmadvand and Firouzeh Khosrovani. The film explores themes of exile, memory, and the enduring yet fragile connections to places left behind.
The narrative follows Maryam, who fled Iran at the age of 20, crossing the mountainous border into Turkey amid the aftermath of the revolution, which saw her activist friends imprisoned or executed. From her new home in the United States, she installs surveillance cameras in her parents’ home in Tehran, attempting to maintain a link to the life she left behind. Frequent interruptions in the connection highlight the precariousness of memory and the distance between past and present.
In a statement, the directors noted that Past Future Continuous draws from personal experiences of friends and family who left Iran in search of new lives. The film shifts focus from the act of leaving to the abandoned spaces left behind, reflecting on the quiet loss of connection and the enduring bonds of love across distance. Technology in the film serves as a tentative bridge between memory and reality, allowing characters to revisit, through dreams and longing, the places and relationships they can no longer access.
Screenings are free, with seating available until capacity is reached. A full schedule is available on www.agistriveneto.it and on the Facebook page @agis.trevenezie.
