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Film/Screening

Film Screening: Secret Ballot

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"Secret Ballot" film poster

Wednesday, October 12, 2022
6:30pm to 8:30pm PT

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In-Person at Stanford (location TBD)

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Event Details:

Join us for a 20th anniversary screening of the film Secret Ballot (123 minutes) and a discussion with Babak Payami, the film’s writer, director, and co-producer.  The award-winning film was recently restored in 4k and re-released by the Toronto International Film Festival Organization. Film is in Persian with English subtitles, conversation will be in English. Watch the trailer on YouTube.

"Award winner at five international film festivals, writer/director Babak Payami's Secret Ballot is a satirical comedy that humorously sheds light on the universal discrepancies of the voting process and gender differences. It's Election Day on a remote island off the coast of Iran and a ballot box is parachuted to shore. An unnamed soldier is assigned to escort a female bureaucrat to gather votes. Together, they embark on a chaotic journey, turning the island upside down, desperately seeking anyone's vote! There is more to the Secret Ballot than the two could ever imagine!"

Babak Payami was born in Tehran in 1966 and grew up in Iran and Afghanistan before leaving for Europe and subsequently Canada. 

Babak enrolled in the Cinema Studies program at the University of Toronto and eventually returned to Iran in 1998 where he wrote, produced, and directed his debut feature film One More Day. He later wrote, directed, and co-produced with Marco Mueller, his second feature film Secret Ballot, which went on to compete in the official program of the Venice International Film Festival in 2001 and earned him several accolades in Venice, including the Best Director award. 

In 2002 he began production on Silence Between Two Thoughts which he wrote, directed, and produced in remote areas of eastern Iran close to the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. All of the original material for the film was confiscated by the Iranian government and Babak was forced into exile in 2003. 

Babak has produced and directed numerous projects and has taught at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy in Germany and conducted workshops in Italy and North America.  He was the creative director of the Media Studio at Fabrica. The Imagisti Creative Studio is the convergence of Payami’s work as an independent artist. Based in Toronto, Imagisti is a hub for young creative talent offering a unique array of acting and directing training classes, film and music production workshops, and artist coaching and branding programs.

If you need a disability-related accommodation for this event, please contact us at iranianstudies@stanford.edu. Requests should be made by October 3, 2022.