Sat May 30
4.30pm , 7.30pm
4.30pm , 7.30pm
With Hasan in Gaza
film
The Cow
Wed May 20:
$15 General Admission
$10 Student/Child/Senior
$7 NWFF Member
Dariush Mehrjui
Iran
1969
1h 24m
About
(Dariush Mehrjui, 1969, Iran, 84 min, in Farsi with English subtitles)
Considered to be the originator of Iranian New Wave Cinema, Dariush Mehrjui’s 1969 film The Cow (گاو, Gāv) tells the story of an old villager whose life and livelihood largely revolve around a single cow, and his journey into madness over the loss of everything he has. It offers subtle yet powerful criticisms of socioeconomic systems of wealth, class, and property, drawing from Marxism—Indeed a story as apt for our time as it was for its own.
The Cow was immediately banned by the Shah of Iran because of its negative portrayal of impoverishment in rural Iran. It was later smuggled out of the country and won the FIPRESCI critics prize at the 1971 Venice Film Festival. Despite the film being praised by the Islamic Republic, the current government of Iran who took power after the Shah was overthrown in 1979, Mehrjui found himself later being censored by the new government.
Mehrjui’s Resistance, Assassination, and Legacy
In March 2022, Mehrjui publicly denounced state censorship on film. In front of a filled cinema crowd, Mehrjui announced, “Listen to me, I can’t take it anymore,” he said. “I want to fight. Kill me, do whatever you want with me…destroy me, but I want my right.” Proclaiming he would rather fight and die for his freedom of expression than to continue living under oppression. Just over a year later, he and his wife were stabbed to death. While the official word is that the killing was over a personal grudge, it has been speculated that it is in fact the government who had him assassinated for speaking out.
As a founder of the Iranian New Wave Cinema, Mehrjui paved the way for world renowned directors such as Abbas Kiarostami, director of Taste of Cherry, and Jafar Panahi, director of It Was Just An Accident and The White Balloon, who won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Synopsis and information courtesy of Yashar Shayan
Click for Accessibility Info
Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum’s ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. All doors in Northwest Film Forum are non-motorized, and may require staff assistance to open. Our upstairs workshop room is not wheelchair accessible.
The majority of seats in our main cinema are 21″ wide from armrest to armrest; some seats are 19″ wide. We are working on creating the option of removable armrests!
We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter. Also available at the front desk is a Sensory Kit you can borrow, which includes a Communication Card, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys.
The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!
If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at suji@nwfilmforum.org. Our phone number (206-329-2629) is voicemail-only, but we check it often.
Made possible due to a grant from Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Sensory Access, our Sensory Access document presents a visual and descriptive walk-through of the NWFF space. View it in advance of attending an in-person event at bit.ly/nwffsocialnarrativepdf, in order to prepare yourself for the experience.
⚠️ COVID-19 Policies ⚠️
NWFF patrons will be strongly encouraged to wear masks that cover both nose and mouth while in the building. Disposable masks are available at the door for those who need them. Recent variants of COVID-19 readily infect and spread between individuals regardless of vaccination status.
Read more about NWFF’s policies regarding cleaning, masks, and capacity limitations here.
Refund & Late Policy
Northwest Film Forum reserves the right to release tickets to anyone on standby if there are open seats 5 minutes after a sold out show’s scheduled start time. If you arrive and your seat has been given away, we will happily refund your ticket.
If you’re not feeling a particular movie you’re already watching, we will refund a ticket if you ask within the first 30 minutes of a film.
If you are unable to make it to a screening (sickness, forgot to come, dog ate your homework, etc.) please email rajah (at) nwfilmforum (dot) org to get a refund.
