THE SANCTIONS HOTEL

This is a documentary about the five-year struggle of architect Amir Anoushfar and designer Shadi Parand to save ‘The Ameriha’ a 500-year-old mud palace and one of Iran’s largest historic buildings. Their goal of preserving it by turning it into an international boutique hotel would be a challenge anywhere but in Ahmadinejad’s Iran, a country increasingly isolated by international sanctions and one where foreign tourists are gaoled for spying, it is an undertaking bordering on the absurd. For Amir and Shadi however this is not a logical or commercial exercise, it is the first step in the preservation of Iran’s vanishing heritage, a task in which they believe they cannot afford to fail. 

The Sanctions Hotel was nominated for a Foreign Press Awards 2017,

for the Art and Culture Story of the year.

The film was selected for Sheffield documentary festival’s Meetmarket in 2016.

The one-hour version is being co-produced with Al Jazeera English as part of their Witness strand.

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