-
Risking his life Mike fled the repressive regime in Iran to live freely in the U.S. Embracing the American dream he becomes a successful businessman and falls in love and marries an American nurse Christine. Deeply devoted to her profession Christine volunteers to serve as a pediatric nurse during a three month humanitarian program in war torn Iraq. Christine is kidnapped shortly after arriving in Iraq forcing Mike to confront a chaotic world he thought he left behind. Through family assistance in Iran Mike finds an Iraqi family that offers to help him find her. Warned by his Iraqi contacts to go back home Mike is on a dangerous mission to find Christine and every second spent looking for her presents new twists and turns.
-
Undying Dreams, a narrative action feature film with a dramatic story about the US/Iraq war, the Pro-Democracy movement in Iran and the devastating consequences of war.
Undying dreams is a labor of love
The movie started 4 years ago at the beginning of 2009 and is completely self financed without backing from any major or mini studios. With more than 40 speaking roles we shot the movie in Los Angeles, Palmdale and Amman, Jordan in numerous locations which required a tremendous amount of planning, preparation and execution of the planned scenes. It was the love and passion to tell an authentic story in authentic locations which took us from Los Angeles to Palestinian and Iraqi refugee camps in Amman, Jodran. Even though we never encountered any problems in the region the fear of retaliation against an American crew filming a very sensitive subject matter from extremists always concerned us since we did not have any security personnel with us on set due to a very tight budget. Upon our arrival from Jordan we found out our sole outside investor who was supposed to fund the post production phase of the movie backed out. After filming was completed it took over one year to realize that no studio in Hollywood would take on such a controversial story or they wanted to make changes that would not be true to the story that we wanted to tell. This left us with no choice but to do all the post production work on our own. Ash Kohan, the director and producer, edited the movie, completed over 300 shots of visual effects (including rotoscoping, tracking, match moving, matte painting, 3D modeling and compositing) averaging a shot per day, color corrected and color graded and finished the sound (dialogue editing, background sound editing, sound design and sound effects editing). Our movie, aside from having a unique story to tell, which explores different untold aspects of the US/IRAQ war, deals with two major issues, the devastating consequences of war and the pro-democracy movement in Iran.
Undying Dreams is a gripping story about the struggles facing the people in Iran, Iraq and all over the Middle East.
-
Cast and Crew
Cast
ASH KOHAN
Mike
MARK NAJI
Reza
IYAD HAJJAJ
Amir
JOHN STEINER
John
JAMES MCPHERSON
Steve
SANDRA BARLOW
Christine
HUGH MUN
Ramzi
ABOUD BARAKAT
Bahaa
HASSAN BIN MOHAMMAD
Mr. Karami
AMIR KHALIGHI
Hussein
AIDAN BRISTOW
Sina
JOHN W ALLEN
Governor
ARMAN PARDISI
Iranian Policeman
MANI TALEBI
Peyman
THERESA DEVEAUX
Camille
HOMIE DORODIAN
Iranian Smuggler
BILL ELVERMAN
Drunk Man
ELSA MYERS
Parking Attendant
SAMUEL PARNELL
James
DAVID CASTRO
David
AFSHIN HASHEMI
Ali
BOBBY VASH
Iranian Interrogator
MICHAEL RAHAAL
Ziyad
TOM VLAY
Tom
ALTIN HAMOONI
Altin
NIMA OURMAZDI
Iranian
BILL MYERS
Dr. Myers
RASHID
Nurses Driver
HUCINE
Khaled
CHET JULES
Sam
CHRISTOPHER CONNOLLY
Fbi Agent
MEHDI MDOUARI
Adnan
AREJ ZEITOUNI
Insurgent Driver
DAVID ZAHEDI
Party Guest 1
DANNY MINICK
Iraqi Policeman
RIYO IWASAKI
Elizabeth
HAFED IKHLEF
Abdurahim
ANTHONY BERTRAM
Governor’s Bodyguard
MAHSA SANAIE
Sina’s Girlfriend
LES MAHONEY
Fbi Agent
ADAM MCLEAN
Fbi Agent
ZEINA ZEITOUNI
Party Guest 2
DIANA ABUKAZAM
Party Guest 3
NICOLEE NAZEMI
Dancer 1
JULIA ALEXAN
Dancer 2
Produced by
David Castro
associate producer
Iyad Hajjaj
associate producer
Ash Kohan
executive producer / producer
Mark Naji
associate producer
Alina Slamar
executive producer / producer
Music by
Omar Fadel
Cinematography by
Keiko Nakahara
Film Editing by
Ash Kohan
Art Department
Karim Kheir
property master Sound Department
Michael Archacki
post sound consultant
Carlton Diggs
sound mixer
Kirk Dwyer
boom operator
Fallah Hannan
boom operator (second unit)
Baha Othman
sound mixer (second unit)
Brian Starley
adr
Special Effects by
Joann Gross
special effects
Visual Effects by
Florian De Gesincourt
matte painting
Gonzalo Golpe
matte painting
Ash Kohan
digital compositor / matte painting / rotoscoping / tracking
Aziz Maqqoul
matte painting
Szabolcs Menyhei
matte painting
Jean-Baptiste Verdier
matte painting
Camera and Electrical Department
Jeff Hayford
first assistant camera
Carlos M. Jimenez
gaffer
Bob Low
grip
Alexander Nikishin
assistant camera: second unit
William Novy
first assistant camera
Jacob Pinger
camera operator: second unit
Rocky Romines
gaffer
Simon Soderqvist
assistant camera: third unit
Joseph Thomsen
gaffer Casting Department
Casting Department
David Castro
casting associate
Nabil Koni
casting associate
Hugh Mun
casting associate
Mark Naji
casting assistant
John Steiner
casting assistant
Olivier Tramino
casting assistant
Editorial Department
Ash Kohan
colorist
Music Department
Mehrdad Arabi
musician
Mohamed Chaoua
singer
Omar Fadel
musician / orchestrator
Homayoun Khosravi
musician
Avi Sills
musician