Please join us for
Irvine International Film Festival - Opening Night - Red Carpet Event
Large event open to Chamber members, Board of Directors,  Elected Officials
Location: Edwards Westpark 8- 3735 Alton Parkway, Irvine

Irvine International Film Festival Opens January 17, 2013 With Two Oscar Possibilities

The second annual Irvine International Film Festival opens January 17, 2013 at the Edwards Westpark 8 in Irvine, California featuring a documentary, The Iran Job, and the animated short Head over Heels.  The Hollywood Reporter projects The IranJob as a possible Oscar contender as does Steve Pond, of The Wrap.  Head Over Heels is one of 10 animated shorts to advance to the next round in this year’s Academy Awards.

More Iran Job….

The Iran Job follows American basketball player Kevin Sheppard as he accepts a job to play in one of the world’s most feared countries: Iran.

With tensions running high between Iran and the West, Kevin tries to separate sports from politics only to find that politics is impossible to escape in Iran.

Along the way he forms an unlikely alliance with three outspoken Iranian women. Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they discuss everything from politics to religion to gender roles.

Surprisingly timely, this documentary follows an American basketball player’s experiences in Iran as he tries to lead his new team to victory in the Iranian pro leagues. Not just an example of how sports can bridge cultural divides, but also an intriguing look at Iranian society in general.

Kevin’s season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the sweeping changes across the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring.