Samaa (Farsi)
In Iranian culture, samaa is the meditative practice of achieving a spiritual awakening through rhythm and movement.
A National Film Board of Canada production
A caged bird flutters and flails in a struggle for freedom. But only by surrendering to the transcendent power of music and movement is the bird finally able to soar.
In Samaa, filmmaker Ehsan Gharib invites us into imagined captivity using striking, hand-painted animation and visceral drumming. The bird’s dramatic plight begs the question: Is freedom a state of being, or is it a state of mind?
Two-liner
A caged bird, yearning to fly, finds release through the transcendent power of music and movement. Revelling in the magic and mechanics of cinema, Ehsan Gharib crafts a striking, hand-painted animated short on the themes of freedom and ecstasy.
One-liner
A caged bird, yearning to fly, finds release through the transcendent power of music and movement.
Contact NFB publicist for broadcast-quality excerpts.
Contact NFB publicist for high-resolution images for print.
Direction and Animation
Ehsan Gharib
Percussions
Ziya Tabassian
Editing
Xi Feng
Sound Design
Olivier Calvert
Foley
Lise Wedlock
Foley Recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
Re-Recording
Isabelle Lussier
Online Edit
Luca Di Gioacchino
Technical Direction
Mathieu Tremblay
Eloi Champagne
Titles
Mélanie Bouchard
Mohsen Zarrabi
Technical Coordination
Luc Binette
Production Coordination
Dominique Forget
Barry Ahmad
Line Producer
Laetitia Seguin
Administration
Victoria Angeli
Studio Operations Manager
Camille Fillion
Marketing
Geneviève Bérard
Publicist
Nadine Viau
Thanks
Arash Akhgari
Parissa Mohit
Executive Producer
Robert McLaughlin
Producer
Maral Mohammadian
Samaa
© 2024 National Film Board of Canada