Director: Aref Mohamamdi, 2018, Canada, 60 minutes, Cast: Bahman Kazemi
When an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker hears the story of Ghadamyar, a Kurdish 120-year-old Tanbūr player, he takes off on a mission to discover more about this spiritual master’s musical and enchanting life. The film follows his journey to Western Iran, where he unearths the ancient traditions and teachings of Ghadamyar’s faith known as Yarsanism, and its relationship to the mysterious Tanbūr as a meditative instrument. The film takes audiences on a musical and visual quest among rugged landscapes of Western Iran to experience undiscovered voices and spiritual awakening. We witness the collective prayer of Yarsani Tanbūrists, as a practice to maintain their spiritual identity and search for inner beauty.