Immigrant dreaming of rock-n-roll in the heart of San Francisco
Radio Dreams, winner of the 45th Rotterdam International Film Festival’s Tiger Award, is the newest feature film from Iranian-British director Babak Jalali (Frontier Blues).
Radio Dreams creates the bizarre yet very real world of PARS-FM——a Farsi-language radio station broadcasting from the heart of San Francisco.
The story unfolds over a single day as the station’s program manager, Hamid—a brilliant, misunderstood Iranian writer (played by the “Iranian Bob Dylan” Mohsen Namjoo)—prepares for a triumphant broadcast of a live performance pairing Metallica and Kabul Dreams, Afghanistan’s first rock band.
Meanwhile, Hamid must juggle a dysfunctional mix of on-air talent, station managers, and performers while fending off the owner’s plans to wrest control of the station.
“Babak Jalali has masterfully created an authentic yet curious world inhabited by spellbinding characters who provide much-needed insight into the sometimes surreal experiences of American immigrants,” said Hannah Campbell, Vice President, Matson Films. “Radio Dreams is all at once a poignant art film, tragicomic hero's journey, and immeasurably topical socio-political dialogue. The intrigue is simply undeniable.”
Radio Dreams brings to life the sometimes bizarre experience of immigrants pursuing dreams in the U.S.A. with the perfect mixture of honesty, art, and socio-political topicality served up in an ingenious, offbeat transmission.
Radio Dreams
Opens Friday, 6 p.m.
Palace Picture House
818 Georgia Ave. (423) 803-6578
www.chattpalace.com