'Orca'
The award-winning, highly acclaimed films scheduled for the festival include documentaries, family comedies, romantic dramas, and a couple of experimentally realized slasher films. One of the must-sees is Orca (2021), directed by Tehran-born Sahar Mosayebi, and starring Taraneh Alidoosti as Elham who, after nearly beaten to death by her husband, tries to drown herself in the ocean. But being a born athlete, she survives and goes on to confront the religious mores of her country (“In an Islamic country, women don’t swim!”) by becoming an endurance swimmer and attempting to swim farther than anyone has done before — with her hands bound in handcuffs.
'A Revolution on Canvas'
At the other end of the spectrum, Sundance Film Festival favorite The Persian Version (2023) is a whipsmart dramedy featuring Layla Mohammadi as Iranian-American, queer-identifying Leila, who wryly navigates the seemingly irreconcilable expectations of her two cultures. And in the award-winning documentary A Revolution on Canvas (2023), filmmakers Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder delve into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of more than 100 paintings by Sara’s father, Iranian artist and activist Nikzad “Nicky” Nodjoumi, who in 1980, fled Iran following the censorship of his solo exhibition Report on the Revolution and its shutdown at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Also screening at the MFAH are Parviz Shahbazi’s Roxana (2023) and Terrestrial Verses (2023).
Winners (2022), a dramatic film about two children in a small Iranian community who discover an Academy Award statuette (or “Oscar”) in a garbage dump and proceed to seek out its owner, screens Jan. 27 at Asia Society Texas Center. And on Feb. 2-3, Rice Cinema presents two of director Shahram Mokri’s horror films: Fish and Cat (2013), which unfolds in a non-linear single, uncut 135-minute shot, and the similarly grisly and tense Invasion (2017).
'The Persian Version'
Whiskey Myers plays March 11
Of the 20 acts scheduled, 10 are making their debut on the RODEOHOUSTON stage, including contemporary country pop sensations Carly Pearce, Lainey Wilson, and HARDY; 19-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter Ivan Cornejo, whose unique take on the regional music of Mexico includes alternative and emo-rock influences; Canadian rockers Nickelback; country-folk breakout artist Oliver Anthony; rapper and country star Jelly Roll, who recently testified at the Senate’s Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing where he lobbied for stronger legislation against the ongoing fentanyl crisis in the United States; Texas-band Whiskey Myers; Jamaican-American EDM and DJ trio Major Lazer; and vintage hip-hop star 50 Cent, whose champagne Le Chemin du Roi Brut (“The King’s Path”) won the 2023 Rodeo Uncorked! Grand Champion Best of Show honors and was auctioned off for a record-setting $325,000 at RODEOHOUSTON’s charitable Champion Wine Auction.
Returning to RODEOHOUSTON are fan favorites Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, and Luke Bryan, making his 10th appearance on the star stage at NRG Stadium; Hank Williams, Jr.; Zac Brown Band’ outlaw country artist Eric Church; Australian Christian pop-act and KING + COUNTRY; Los Tigres Del Norte, who perform on March 10 for Go Tejano Day; Jonas Brothers; and rapper, burger-meister and No. 15 in Houston CityBook’s“Cool 100” Bun B.
Keep in mind concerts begin each night after the last rodeo event is completed, so the actual start times for each show will vary due to the different number of rodeo competitors and other production elements.
Blake Shelton plays Feb. 27
Luke Bryan plays March 7
For King and Country plays Feb. 29
Oliver Anthony plays March 5
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