Documentary STARLESS DREAMS Set for NY Premiere at Museum of Moving Image 1/20

The Cinema Guild proudly presents STARLESS DREAMS, director Mehrdad Oskouei's outstanding, extraordinarily empathic documentary will open: Friday, January 20, 2017 in New York at The Museum of Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave, Astoria, Queens, NY 11106) in its New York theatrical premiere. A HAUNTING portrait of stolen childhood, "Starless Dreams" plunges us into the lives of seven young teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a rehabilitation and correction center on the outskirts of Tehran. "Starless Dreams" is the third and final film in Oskouei's Iranian trilogy, following the acclaimed "It's Always Late for Freedom" (2008) and "The Last Days of Winter" (2012).

As the New Year approaches, the girls bond and reveal with disarming and often playful honesty the circumstances and acts that resulted in their incarceration. They have killed their father, robbed a bank, or were arrested for carrying 651 grams of cocaine. Outside the prison walls, danger is everywhere, even within their own families.

Director Mehrdad Oskouei, one of Iran's most prominent filmmakers, spent seven years securing access to this all-female facility. With startling access and "the conceptual rigor and emotional directness associated with the best of Iranian Cinema (Variety) "Starless Dreams" delivers an unforgettable cinematic portrayal of restored innocence and humanity.