Rooftop Films Outdoor Movie of Arusi: Persian Wedding - Saturday, September 6 At Roosevelt Island's Firefighter's Field

Image from Still in Motion

Rooftop Films will be showing an outdoor movie at Roosevelt Island's Firefighter's Field on Saturday, September 6 titled Arusi: Persian Wedding .

According to Rooftop Films:

Iranian-American filmmaker Marjan Tehrani chronicles her brother's return to Iran as he travels with his American wife to have a Persian wedding ceremony and explore his lost heritage. Using dynamic historical footage and weaving it with the couple's personal story, Arusi Persian Wedding explores the history and impact of the broken relationship between Iran and America. Behind the curtain of political tension, the film offers rare glimpses of both modern and traditional Iran, displaying a vibrant and complex country that is sealed off to much of the West.

An excerpt from interview with the Persian Wedding director via Still In Motion:

Every Iranian carries animosity about what’s happened between Iran and the US. Even if they live here and love this country, there is a really bad taste in their mouths, and a lot of regret for what could have been. Iranians are a very poetic people, proud, dramatic. We look to these moments in the past and hold on tight to them. That’s all I’ve heard about my whole life, these moments, these missed opportunities between the two countries. I was trying to figure out how to tell those stories. When my brother and his wife announced that they were going to Iran to have a wedding, I knew it was exactly how I wanted to go, with this amazing access to a very personal story with a strong narrative arc to it. This was also a life-long dream of my dad’s, that we would go back as adults and really see his country. He’s one of the few Iranians that we know in our community that has this passion, this love affair with Iran. He can’t stay away. He spends half of his year there.

The movie was originally scheduled to be shown at Southpoint Park, where outdoor movies should be shown on Roosevelt Island, as was the earlier Rooftop presentation of Song Sung Blue, a Neil Diamond cover band documentary. The reason for the move to Firefighter's Field is unclear since I have been given two different versions of what happened. I will update as soon as I find out more.

The schedule for the night is as follows:

• 8:00: Doors open
• 8:30: Live music
• 9:00: Film begin
• Tickets: FREE

Directions to Roosevelt Island by Tram, F train, bus or car can be found here.

If the movie had been at Southpoint Park, I would have asked for those new to Southpoint Park to take a moment when you are there to consider that these panoramic 360 degree views will be ruined forever if the proposed Louis Kahn memorial (some refer to it incorrectly as the FDR memorial) is ever built at this site. Since the movie is not being shown there please take a virtual look with the above links at the open NYC skyline and waterfront views that are in danger of being lost forever

UPDATE - 9/5 - Rooftop Films sends the following message advising that the Roosevelt Island outdoor film showing of Arusi: Persian Wedding is being postponed until Sunday September 7:

due to forecasts of heavy rain and high winds, we are rescheduling for Sunday—same time, same place, different day. Hopefully we will be able to get out the word properly.