Tiburon International Film Festival's blog

Running Time:  105 minutes
Country:  Italy/Canada
Genre:  Documentary
Music: Giuliano Belotti, Ali Reza Hojjati, Jamshid Tabardaran, Mehregan Gerami Haqiqi, Mohammad Aramesh
Director: Federico Spinetti

Zurkhaneh – The House of Strength is a feature documentary about
the traditional gymnasia where a unique form of Iranian sport is
practiced to the accompaniment of drumming, sung poetry and expressions
of Shi’a devotion. Based on extensive ethnographic research, the film
journeys from the Iranian diaspora in Canada, across urban Iran, to the
first international Zurkhaneh Olympic tournament in South Korea.

Music and martial arts performances are woven into encounters
with vivid human experiences as athletes, musicians and experts reveal a
variety of subjectivities, perceptions and struggles within the
religious, ethical and social world of Zurkhaneh.

What emerges is the integration, but also the tensions, between the ethical and
competitive aspects of Iranian martial arts, between Sufi-inspired mysticism and the religiously-inflected nationalism of post-revolutionary Iran, between grassroots community engagement and Olympic aspirations.