Chess of the Wind
- Tuesday, Apr 21, 2026, 7:15pm
Screening location: SIFF Film Center – 167 Republican St, Seattle(located within the Seattle Center, just north of Climate Pledge Arena / east of KEXP and The Vera Project)
50th anniversary!
Screened publicly just once before it was banned and then lost for decades, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema reemerged to take its place as one of the most singular and astonishing works of the country’s pre-revolution New Wave. A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in shivery period atmosphere, CHESS OF THE WIND unfolds in an ornate, candlelit mansion where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares the heirs to a family fortune as they vie for control of their recently-deceased matriarch’s estate. Melding the influences of European modernism, gothic horror, and classical Persian art, director Mohammad Reza Aslani crafts an exquisitely controlled mood piece that erupts in a stunningly subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles, and even time itself are upended with shocking ferocity.
In Farsi with English subtitles.
“Happenstance alone saved this movie from oblivion, and how lucky we are for it—a moody tale of ugly family and class dynamics, reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe, complete with an utterly unexpected, numbing final shot.” David Mermelstein, Wall Street Journal
“…a stylistic tour de force… Visually, the film is a sumptuous feast from first frame till last.” Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com
“Eerily prescient to the country’s political moment immediately before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A shining example of how familiar genres and tones can meld together to form something that feels brand new.” Glenn Heath Jr., The Film Stage