Daria has written her first manuscript about falling in love with a mysterious girl called ‘abi’ [blue]. The night flowers in her garden hide the secrets of a country that has turned love stories into routine crime scenes.
Maryam Tafakory’s unmistakable style counts her among the most distinctive and instantly recognisable filmmakers in contemporary experimental film, a style relying on the reuse of fragments taken from Iranian heritage films, which she often modifies through overlays, unique colourizations, and repetitions. In DARIA’S NIGHT FLOWERS, Tafakory addresses some of her favourite subjects – queer love, misogynistic violence, the oppression of women in Iran, and rebellion against these types of suppression – but also adds a new theme: medicinal plants. If, in the hands of power, they become pharmaceuticals, used not only for biological conditions but also to “treat” what power considers to be an illness (in this case, “deviation” from heteronormativity), in the hands of grassroots female solidarity structures, they become a cure for patriarchal suffering, a form of rebellion, and mutual support. (Flavia Dima)
Maryam Tafakory, born and raised in Iran, works with film and performance. Solo screenings of her work include MoMA, BOZAR, National Gallery of Art, and Academy Museum, among others. Selected screenings include Tate Modern, Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, New York Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival. Selected awards include, Gold Hugo at 58th Chicago Int’l Film Festival, Tiger Short Award at 51st IFFR, and Best Experimental Film at 70th and 71st MIFF. She was the 2024 winner of Film London Jarman Award. Her work has featured in The Guardian, Le Monde, and Les Cahiers du Cinéma.
