Puzzleys

Overcome Fears, Great things will Follow

Director: Mehdi Ganji

Documentary | 70 Mins

Logline

Four students from Iran's provinces hit on a novel idea to create a business in which people can make their own apps so set off to the capital Tehran to realize their ambition.

Synopsis

"Puzzleys" is the name of a four-member group of IT students who, in spite of suitable job opportunities and the opposition expressed by their families, want to start up their own business. Other than their education and determination, all they have is an idea. They need backing, experience and business knowledge, so they leave their small town to go to the capital city of Tehran to realize their dreams. They take time off from university and cram into the baggage compartment of a bus for a 15-hour trip to Tehran where the real challenges begin.

Film Trailer

CREDITS

Writer & Director: Mehdi Ganji / Based on an idea by: Reza Bahraminejad / Editor: Esmaeel Monsef / Cinematographers: Mohammad Reza Jahanpanah, Mehdi Ganji / Composer: Babak Mirzakhani / Sound Designer: Amir Hosein Ghassemi / Sound Recordist: Hassan Shabankareh / Unit Production Manager: Abed Nicpoo / Color Grading: Hamidreza Fatourehchian, Sindokht Rahimian / Still Photographer: Abbas Kowsari / Graphic Designer: Hamed Jaberha / Project Advisors: Mahmoud Nazzari, Hossein Akbari / Research Management Team (EDF): Firouzeh Saber, Zahra Emrani / Researchers: Mehdi Ganji, Seyyed Naser Nourbakhsh

With presence by: Hamid Reza Ghaderi, Mostafa Lotfi, Hossein Aryan, Mohammad Hossein Mohseni

Production Sponsors: Mark Amin, Aliasghar Hajibaba, Tabarestan Steel Foundry, Iran vice Presidency of Women and Family Affairs, Mahmoud Nazzari, Dozhpad, Shila Fastfood / Distribution Sponsor: Saman Bank

Artistic Consultant: Rakhshan Banietemad

Producer: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb

A Product of KARA Film Studio

Technical Info

  • PuzzleyHa
  • 70 min., English Subtitle, HD, Color, Iran, 2017
  • Persian
  • 16:9 or 1:1.85
  • Stereo
  • DCP / Blu-Ray / DVD / H.264 File

Festivals

  • 18th Hafez Awards, Tehran, Iran, 13th August 2018
  • 5th Iranian Film Festival Cologne, 17-21 May 2018
  • 15th Image Of The Year Festival, Tehran, Iran, 20th February – 12th March 2018
  • 2nd Termeh Iranian Art & Culture Festival, Munich, Germany, 28th February- 5th March 2018

Special Screening

  • Rahesh News Agency, Isfahan, Iran,13 September, 2021
  • Review Conference of "Karestan Documentary film Series", SOAS University, London, UK, 24 November 2018
  • Persian Cultural Center, San Diego, USA, 29 April 2018
  • K.N. TOOSI University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 27 December 2017
  • IRIB Broadcasting University, Tehran, Iran, 25 December 2017
  • Baani Entrepreneurship Event, Tehran, Iran, 11 December 2017
  • Raad Charity Rehabilation Complex (NGO), Tehran, Iran, 2 December 2017
  • Managers Home, Industrial Management Institute, Tehran, Iran, 28 November 2017
  • Karestan Documentary Week, Economics College of Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran, 7–12 October 2017
  • Avatech Accelerator, Tehran, Iran, 26 September 2017
  • 10th International Documentary Film Festival , Cinema Verite, (Special Section of KARESTAN) Tehran, Iran, 4–11 December 2016

Director's Note

For my generation who lived through the Iran/Iraq war and the turbulent 1980s in Iran, our greatest wish was to become a doctor or an engineer. We were taught to leave others behind in the marathon of life and work hard in order to attain our common stereotypes of success. Our dream was to live the life of a wealthy doctor or engineer as a member of the nouveau riche. Nobody taught us how to live creatively or which path to take for life or career. We were the products of a conformist mentality and our only duty was to keep our bank accounts full in order to maintain our living standards. This may be why, as a filmmaker, I have always been attracted to people who choose a different path, who change something, and create new values. In fact, I believe I am searching for the missing parts of my own character.

Young people who take risks and stray from traditional and safe paths are positive role models. These people face all the difficulties that starting up a new business entails. They believe that collaboration and team work is more effective than trying to advance single-handedly. Spending time filming the stories of these ordinary extraordinary people who will never appear on the covers of bestselling magazines has inspired me and changed my life.