“Joonam” the movie (THE EVENT IS SOLD OUT)

Description

JOONAM

World Premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition Section

at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

Directed, Edited, and Cinematography by Sierra Urich
Featuring Behjat Samimi, Mitra Samimi-Urich, and Sierra Urich
Produced by Keith Wilson (I Didn’t See You There) and Sierra Urich

Supervising Editor Maya Daisy Hawke
Associate Produced by Sasha Leitmann

RT: 100 minutes

LOG LINE

Spurred by a provocative family memory and a lifetime of separation from the country her mother left
behind, a young filmmaker delves into her mother and grandmother’s complicated pasts, and her own
fractured Iranian identity.

SYNOPSIS

Filmmaker Sierra Urich grew up in rural Vermont, a place and an upbringing far removed from Iran, the
homeland of her mother, Mitra, and grandmother, Behjat. Only knowing Iran through family stories, food,
and holidays, and with the prospect of travel to the country a seemingly impossible dream, she embarks
on a personal quest to make sense of her fractured Iranian identity. Navigating barriers of language and
culture (not to mention the complications of geopolitical conflict and displacement), Sierra turns to Mitra
and Behjat to construct a deeply moving and sometimes disarmingly funny portrait of three generations of
women and their complex relationship to an Iran of the past.
Named for a Farsi term of endearment, Joonam is infused with humor and heart like only a film about
family could be. Interrogating family history and memory, including her grandmother’s experiences as a
preteen bride and her mother’s rebellious teenage years during the Iranian Revolution, Sierra Urich
constructs a rich, personal film that poignantly reflects the experiences of the Iranian diasporic
community and speaks to anyone affected by the dislocation that accompanies immigration.