Drum is Keywan Karimi’s first feature film.
Born in 1985, Karimi is an Iranian filmmaker of Kurdish origin. His short films, such as Broken Border (2012) and The Adventures of a Married Couple (2013), were presented in numerous international film festivals. Because of his documentary Writing on the City (2015), focusing on the political graffiti of Tehran walls from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the 2009 re- election of Mohamoud Ahmadinejad, Karimi was arrested and held in isolation for two weeks in December 2013. In October 2015, he was condemned to six years in prison and 223 lashes for “offending Islamic sacredness.” In February 2016, the appeal judgment confirmed all convictionsbutreduced the prison sentence to one year imprisonment but kept the 223 lashes.
His freedom is currently in a state of limbo: he has not yet been imprisoned, but he has not been acquitted and he can no longer appeal his final sentence. His status can be considered house arrest as he is unable to travel anywhere, for example: the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of DRUM.
Karimi considers Yılmaz Guney (the Cannes Palme d’Or winner for 1982’s YOL and a Turkish director of Kurdish origin) as an inspirational example of a filmmaker who stood up for freedom of expression.

The atmosphere is dreamlike, the characters have no name, neither the streets. Teheran is the only character whose name is constantly evoked. A lawyer, as many others, works and lives alone in his apartment, which is both his office and his home. In a cold and rainy day, a man burst into his apartment, speaks to him shortly and confusingly and gives him a package that will completely change his life.

DRUM (TABL, 2016) by Keywan Karimi [Trailer] from Richard Lormand on Vimeo.