20 Fingers with Mania Akbari

The main part of this week’s show is a chat with actor/producer Bijan Daneshmand. Living partly in Iran, Bijan came to our attention via his work with previous guest: artist and filmmaker Mania Akbari. Bijan starred in Akbari’s 20 Fingers a film most known for the scene (pictured) in which a couple argue vehemently about whether or not to keep their child, on a motorbike ride.

Body of Lies

Since then Bijan has been in (amongst others and aside from mainstream Hollywood film) the stunningly shot Women Without Men, an acclaimed work by Shirin Neshat. He also played the lead role in Two & Two, a short film directed by Babak Anvari, currently up for a BAFTA.

This week we’ll also be sampling audio from avant garde rock/jazz musician Salim Ghazi Saeedi, whose unusual solo work is concept-heavy and produced at home in Iran.