Persian Lessons

Director:
Vadim Perelman

1942. Gilles, a young Belgian man, is arrested by the SS alongside other Jews and sent to a concentration camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. This lie temporarily saves him, but then Gilles is assigned a seemingly untenable mission: to teach Persian to Koch, the officer in charge of the camp's kitchen, who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran once the war is over. Gilles finds himself having to invent a language he doesn't know, word by word. But how long will take before his ruse is discovered?

Screenings
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Director:
Vadim Perelman
Cast:
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart
Lars Eidinger
Jonas Nay
Country:
Russia
Running time:
2h:07m
Section:
TIFF Edition:
2021