Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North at Center for the Arts at George Mason University

Experience “breathtaking fireworks of creativity” (La Monde) with Hamid Rahmanian’s newest large-scale cinematic shadow play Song of the North. With more than 500 handmade puppets and an original score by renowned Iranian composer Loga Ramin Torkian, you'll be transported to a magical and ancient landscape, rich in history and lore in this epic love story adapted from the Shahnameh (Book of Kings). Manijeh, a spunky heroine from ancient Persia, is on a mission to prevent a war and rescue her beloved from her evil and unscrupulous father, King Afrasiab. The thrilling multimedia adventure combines state-of-the-art animation with the age-old art of shadow puppetry to showcase a collection of ancient Persian legends and Iranian national treasures. Rahmanian is a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow whose films have screened at Venice, Sundance, and Tribeca film festivals. Song of the North premiered in Paris, France followed by the U.S. premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. “The Persian soul and culture vibrate in this original and poetic show” (Toute La Culture).