Scented Rooms

In 1979, following the Islamic Revolution, theatres across Iran were shut down, including the oldest, Tamashakhaneh Tehran, built in 1915. Filmmaker Shauheen Daneshfar explores its dusty, decaying interiors with 35mm film, reviving a past enriched with artistic expression and resistance through archival footage, choreographed re-enactments, and the memories of exiled and oppressed artists and performers. Scented Rooms is a powerful, poetic ode to a silenced history resoundingly present. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)