Hossein Khandan

Inspired by real events, Waiting for Kiarostami focuses on the life of Dorsa, a medical student at Ningbo University in China, who has to choose between her father’s wish for her to become a doctor, and her own passion to become a singer and an actress. When Hossein Khandan nominates Dorsa to play the leading role in Abbas Kiarostami’s next film slated to shoot in China, Dorsa’s mom, who shares her passion for acting and the arts and is unconditionally on Dorsa’s side, becomes an acting coach to help her through the casting process; whereas her father opposes his daughter’s involvement in anything other than her studies. Dorsa faces some challenges in her quest to find a balance between her true passion and her family life.

After receiving the 2000 Akira Kurosawa Award, Abbas Kiarostami immediately gave it away to honor the renowned and exiled actor Behrouz Vossoughi, from the generation preceding the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Later that year, Khosrow Shakibaei—one of the best actors after the Iranian Revolution—tried to find and meet Behrouz Voussoughi. Any attempt to meet Behrouz Vossoughi, whose name and picture are banned in Iran, would have put Khosrow Shakibaei’s acting career in Iran in jeopardy. After the unexpected death of Khosrow Shakibaei in July 2008, Hossein Khandan, director of “Another Salute” received consent from Khosrow’s family to release the film.