Song Sparrow: Film Screening & Discussion with Farzaneh Omidvarnia

Stanford Iranian Studies Program

Farzaneh Omidvarnia’s 2019 short film “Song Sparrow” (11 minutes) follows a group of refugees trying to reach a safe country in search of a better life. Based on real events in Austria in 2015 and Ireland in 2019, the film creatively uses dolls and no dialogue to tell the story of refugees who pay a smuggler to transport them in a refrigerated truck—the freezing temperatures turning their hopes for a better future into a fierce struggle for survival. The film asks viewers to reflect on whether "It is better to go or to stay?" Or perhaps more accurately, "Is it worse to stay than to go?" "Is a large swath of humanity entrapped by events befallen their lands many centuries before they were born?" Farzaneh Omidvarnia was born in Iran and graduated from the University of Tehran, Faculty of Fine Arts. She received a PhD in design in 2015 from the Technical University of Denmark. Following her graduation, she began to focus on the creation of fabric sculptures and writing short stories. Her artwork soon appeared in several art exhibitions in Europe and Iran, and she published her first collection of short stories in 2016. In 2017, she directed and produced her first animated film “To Be” (6 minutes, drama). The movie was recognized internationally and won prizes in various festivals. Her second film “Song Sparrow” is qualified for an Oscar in 2021. She is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark.