ZAMANI

Germany | 2022 | 11′50“ | UHD | hybrid short film (essay-fiction-documentary)
Languages: German, Farsi, Syrian, Portugese, French, English
Subtitles: German, English, Spanish
Color | 1.66:1| Stereo, Dolby 5.1

„In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness (…) a time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now.“
– Wangari Maathai, Kenyan author, professor, environmental and political activist, in December 2004 in her acceptence speech of the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

In a magical forest where everything seems to talk to one-another, four siblings from another time-space reality come together to summon one of their kins from the past. The ancestor beholds a message for them. A message to the Earthlings on how to face climate change.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

ZAMANI is a word used in the African and Central Asian context that is associated with time. It means: „time“, „a certain period of time“, „an epoch“ or „an indefinite period of history“. In Farsi, „Zaman“ or „Zamani“ means a period of time that might be set in the future or in the past. „Zaman“ or „Zamani“ therefore refers to periods of time that have neither a beginning nor an end point and are located in a non-linear circular space. A period of time that has already taken place and is yet to come at the same time.
In our work ZAMANI four siblings from a different time-space location, that could be in the future, come together. They know how to connect with their environment and its entities, so they can coexist. Nature is part of them, just as their indigenous ancestors have connected with Earth and Nature. ZAMANI tells of this connection and memory and explores how we might overcome one of the greatest crises of our time – the climate crisis – and what it means to be at home on planet Earth.

Film Stills © Diara Sow

CAST

VOICE OVERS

Ilaiya Arasan Rajanayagam
Kiara Brandorff-Senna
Caio Soares
Joey Steffens
Morgane Hay
Mouna Abo Assali
Saideh Saadat-Lendle

CREW

Special Thanks to 25p

Realized as part of the series Berliner Korrespondenzen, a joint project of Allianz Kulturstiftung and the Gorki Forum, in cooperation with the Humboldt-University Berlin and the Federal Foreign Office.

Project managment | Nino Klingler
Coordination | Çiğdem Mater

SCREENINGS (selection)

2022 Community-Festival Ojo al sancocho, Bogotá (Columbia)
2024 Kurzfilmprogramm rund um queere Perspektiven auf Klimagerechtigkeit und Klimakrise, Leipzig (Germany)
2024 Feminist Perspectives, Vienna (Austria)

If you are interested in our film contact us at www.srikandiproductions.com or www.zarazandieh.com