Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale

IRANIAN KIDNEY BARGAIN SALE
Directed by: Nima Sarvestani
Produced by: Malla Grapengiesser
Co-production of Hysteria Film AB and ITVS International
Released: October 2007
Length: 52:48


With an official kidney referral agency as the backdrop, IRANIAN KIDNEY BARGAIN SALE follows young Iranians through the organ trade process: from their first encounter to surgery and kidney removal.


Nima Sarvestani, Director:

Nima Sarvestani has produced films in Sweden for SVT, TT, and in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2002, his documentary, "Naked and Wind", about social outcasts in Iran, received the Swedish Film Institution Award and a Festival Award at the Mikrokino International Film Festival in Yugoslavia. "Naked and Wind" has been shown at numerous film festivals around the world. His short, "Dead Man¹s Guest", which examines the Shia-Islamic practice of ³short term marriages,² received an honorable mention at the Uppsala International Short Film Festival in 2004.



Malla Grapengiesser, Producer:

Malla Grapengiesser was born in Sweden and studied Literature, Art and Film at the University of Stockholm. She has worked as a curator, ran an art gallery and from 1989 to 1991 was a member of the international performance group Remote Control. She founded Hysteria Film AB, an independent film and video production company, with Antonio Russo Merenda in 1994 and Asterisk Film (Denmark) in 2001. She produced and directed Vistet: The Log House of the Future and has produced numerous award-winning documentaries including Littoria-Latina, A City, by Gianfranco Pannone; War, by Jens Loftager; and My American Family, by Jerzy Sladkowski.