Series Site
Persian Lessons, opening June 9 at the Quad, marks not only the return of award-winning Ukrainian filmmaker Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog) to the big screen but also a multi-national production we're unlikely to see again in the near-future between Germany, Russia, and Belarus. Inspired by a Wolfgang Kohlhaase short story, the harrowing Holocaust tale about a young Jewish man who avoids execution by pretending to be Persian and fluent in Farsi stars César-winner Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (BPM) and Olivier Assayas regular Lars Eidinger (Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper). Veteran film curator Larry Kardish has selected an array of titles to complement and inform the "big, widescreen cinematic ride which deftly mixes suspense, laughter, and tears" (Screen Daily).
Highlights include Vadim Perelman's Academy Award-nominated House of Sand and Fog on 35mm and rare prints of Wolfgang Kohlhaase-penned The Gleiwitz Case and I Was Nineteen from the DEFA Film Library (UMass, Amherst)