Black Rabbit, White Rabbit, a mysterious and surreal drama from Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri bends time, reality, and storytelling into an intricate cinematic puzzle.
Known for daring films such as Fish & Cat and Careless Crime, Mokri once again embraces long takes, looping narratives, and layered metafiction to create a world where fiction and reality collapse into one another.
Starring in the film are Babak Karimi, Hasti Mohammai, Kibriyo Dilyobova, and Bezhan Davlyatov.
Black Rabbit, White Rabbit made its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in the Visions Asia section before playing at the BFI London Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, and the Red Sea International Film Festival. The film was also selected as Tajikistan’s submission for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature category.
The thriller is set to be released in U.S. theaters, starting on May 8th in Los Angeles, CA, at Laemmle Cinemas, via Deaf Crocodile.
Here is the synopsis: A director is remaking a classic Iranian film in Tadjikistan. The studio armorer is worried that the gun they intend to use is not a prop gun and fears the consequences. A young woman arrives at the location, insisting that she be given an audition. At the same time, in another part of town, Sara, recently recovered from a car crash, suddenly realizes that her accident was all part of a conspiracy. These people’s destinies inevitably intertwine.
Shahram Mokri described the film as, “The magic of time weaves together apparently unrelated events. A story of women seeking to escape their cocooned lives. A story of objects possessing a soul, deciding when and where to play a role. A quest to make dreams come true, linking these stories together thanks to the wonder of cinema.”
In its review from Screen Daily, critic Lee Marshall described the film as a “wildly ambitious, wryly comic puzzle film.” The review noted, “Black Rabbit, White Rabbit is a funny-sad human comedy that uses its film-within-a-film structure to entertain its audience while drawing a deterministic noose around characters who can’t seem to escape history’s cycles.”
Watch the official trailer for Black Rabbit, White Rabbit above.
Release screening schedule:
May 8th – 14th // Los Angeles, CA // Laemmle Cinemas
May 13th // Philadelphia, PA // Lightbox Film Center
June 5th – 11th // Chicago, IL // Gene Siskel Film Center
June 12th // Los Angeles, CA // UCLA Film & Television Archive
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