In Crossings: Kaleh Ziyarat, filmmaker and geographer Rouzbeh Akhbari explores and examines the infrastructure, surveillance and layers of narratives specific to the ports, economies and informal routes dotting the International North–South Transport Corridor. Specifically, he follows a flock of sheep transported by herders, smugglers, sailors and dockworkers between the Caspian Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. Drawing on four years of ethnographic and archival research led by the Lisbon Geographic Society, the film combines animations and 3D environments, opera and a main narrative in Portuguese interspersed with English, Farsi, Dari and Kurdish, reflecting Portugal’s control of the Strait of Hormuz between 1515 and 1622. As the water and strait are increasingly scrutinized and shaped by security, military and global economic concerns, Akhbari brings marginal routes and connections to the fore, revealing hard work and often-hidden routes. (RS)

North American Premiere

competition : New Visions Competition

Crossings: Kaleh Ziyarat